Kate is the founder and Artistic Director of Bilimankhwe. Originally trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, she moved into directing in 2002 when she set up Nanzikambe Theatre in Malawi which she then led for three years, directing and producing ten shows and leading on development projects and communications training within the NGO and donor community.

Her directing credits include a trilogy of African Shakespeares (Macbeth, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream) which were funded by the British Council and toured throughout Malawi and to the Harare International Festival of the Arts; And Crocodiles are Hungry at Night and After Mikuyu, both co-productions with Nanzikambe and featuring the poetry of Jack Mapanje (funded by the Arts Council and Commonwealth Foundation) and an African adaptation of the Feydeau farce A Flea in Her Ear, commissioned by the French Embassy. Her freelance directing work includes an ensemble production of A Christmas Carol, James Graham’s A History of Falling Things, an open-air production of As You Like It, a site-specific production of Twelfth Night (in Hornsey Town Hall) and several youth theatre productions for National Theatre Connections. 

In 2014 she was honoured by the Malawian community in the UK for her work promoting Malawian artists with the Malawi Achievers Special Recognition Award.