Kate Burton and Patricia Kalember to Star in PEN PALS at Theatre Aspen

Theatre Aspen will present Pen Pals: A New Play by Michael Griffo, playing at Paepcke Auditorium on Friday, March 20 at 6:30 PM and Saturday, March 21 at 4:30 PM. The production will star three-time Tony Award nominee and two-time Emmy nominee Kate Burton (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal”) and Outer Critics Circle nominee Patricia Kalember (“Sisters,” “thirtysomething”), with direction by Hannah Ryan (Theatre Aspen’s Gypsy and Love, Loss and What I Wore).

Pen Pals is the extraordinary story of two friends that unfolds over decades. Bernie and Mags live in two different countries, they’ve never met, and yet they’re best friends. Because they’ve been pen pals for over fifty years. Since they were teenagers, they’ve shared every aspect of their lives with each other. The trivial bits, the most intimate details, all the happiness, all the heartache. They’ve told each other things they wouldn’t dare tell another soul. Even though Bernie lives in New Jersey and Mags is from England, the women are closer to each other than anyone else in the world.

Kate Burton

Burton recently starred in Kyoto at LCT (Stephen Daldry, Justin Martin). Tony Nominations include: Hedda Gabler (Nicholas Martin, also Bay Street, WTF, Huntington), The Elephant Man (starring Billy Crudup, director Sean Mathias), The Constant Wife (Mark Brokaw).

Burton also appeared on Broadway in Present Laughter 1982 (starring and directed by George C. Scott) and 2017 (starring Kevin Kline, director Moritz von Steulpnagel), Alice in Wonderland (Eva Le Gallienne), Doonesbury (Jacques Levy), Wild Honey (starring Ian McKellen, director Christopher Morahan), Jake’s Women (starring Alan Alda, director Gene Saks), Company (starring Boyd Gaines, director Scott Ellis), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Garry Hynes, also UK/Ireland tour), An American Daughter (Dan Sullivan), Some Americans Abroad (Roger Michell).

Additional theatre credits include RSC: The Constant Wife (Tamara Harvey). West End: Three Sisters (with Kristin Scott Thomas, director Michael Blakemore). NYSF: Coriolanus and Cymbeline (Dan Sullivan). Old Globe: The Tempest (Joe Dowling). Irish Rep: Irishtown (Nicola Murphy Dubey), The Dead, 1904 (Ciaran O’Reilly). Second Stage: The Water’s Edge (Will Frears). CTG: Arcadia, The House of Blue Leaves, The Price, A Christmas Carol (Old Vic). Huntington: Aristocrats, The Cherry Orchard, The Corn Is Green, The Seagull. 20 summers at Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Burton received Emmy nominations for “Grey’s Anatomy” (Ellis Grey) and “Scandal” (Sally Langston); and appeared on screen in “Empire Falls,” “Homeland,” “FBI,” “Bull,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” “Veep,” “Grimm,” “13 Reasons Why,” “The West Wing,” “The Good Wife,” “Rescue Me,” “100 Centre Street,” “Law & Order.” Film: Dumb Money, The Surrender (SXSW), Our Son (Tribeca FF), Violent Ends, Breaking, 2 Days in New York, Liberal Arts, The Ice Storm, 127 Hours, Celebrity, Unfaithful, August, Max Payne, and Big Trouble in Little China. Professor at Brown and USC. Actor’s Equity Councillor. 

Hannah Ryan