Kara Chamberlain
Actor | Writer | Producer
About
Kara Chamberlain is a British-Canadian actress, writer and producer, who grew up on the Canadian prairies. She completed her BA (Hons) in Drama at the University of Alberta, where she learned skills across multiple disciplines including acting, writing, producing, and directing. From 2013 to 2014 she worked as an actor and theatre producer in her hometown of Edmonton, AB.
Looking to specialise as an actor, Kara moved to the UK in 2014 to study acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After graduating she moved to London.
Kara co-founded Crossline Theatre with playwright Natalia Knowlton, and began producing, devising and performing in fringe plays that toured around and beyond London. These productions included: Cream Pie @ Brighton Fringe & Camden People's Theatre, Friday Night Love Poem @ Drayton Arms & streamed for Edinburgh Fringe 2021.
In 2022 Crossline Theatre parted ways after eight successful years, and Kara set her sights on film. Since then, she has transitioned into acting, writing and producing for screen. She is now making films as co-director of Cygnet Films Entertainment.
"Knowlton and Chamberlain have shown themselves to be fearless and imaginative"- Female Arts Magazine
Kara is trained in theatre as well as screen acting, and enjoys both equally.
Her independent short film Raw Chemistry, in which she received a Best Actress nomination at the Liverpool Indie Awards for her performance in the leading role of AJ.
Kara also plays a leading role in the critically-acclaimed web series Retail is Hell.
She had her TV debut as Mary Field, sharing the screen with Ben Lambert in History US's The Engineering That Built The World: Cable Across the Sea. And you can catch her work in this touching advert for Norwegian phone brand Talkmore.
On stage, she performed opposite Emma D'Arcy in Children and Animals at the North Wall Arts Centre.
She is currently developing her first solo show, which has been supported by the Arts Council of England.
Writing
Like all of her work, Kara writes for both stage and screen.
She has also written blog posts and articles, for example this article written for the Eventotron blog.
Headcase
HEADCASE is an ensemble play about surviving the relentless corporate workday, not embarrassing yourself in front of your crush, and navigating crippling anxiety. Touching and honest, this show highlights the tension between ‘living our best lives’ and prioritising our needs. HEADCASE inspires wholehearted conversation about self-care, stigma, and acceptance, and will leave audiences with a better understanding of mental healthcare and self-love.
The script is completed. It began as a solo show as part of Haley McGee’s Solo Show Creation Lab (2020). The solo version was workshopped with director Alex Venditelli, with support from the Arts Council of England, before being re-written into an ensemble show in 2022. The latest script has been workshopped with director Mariana Aristizabal Pardo, and a rehearsed reading was performed at The Space in January 2023. HEADCASE can be read and licensed via Lazy Bee Scripts.
“The reader praised how strong the central idea of the play is…it clearly expressed how anxiety is paralysing, overwhelming, but also normal.” – Royal Court Literary Department
While a zombie virus spreads, infecting the men in its wake, AJ risks it all to go on one last first date. This funny, heartbreaking and romantic film flips the zombie genre on its head and mixes it up with a dash of 80s romance.
“Blending romance and horror in an inventive take on the zombie genre, [Raw Chemistry] uses the zombie apocalypse as a backdrop for a commentary on modern dating. The story manages to balance its lighter romantic elements with darker undertones, and we appreciate the way you crafted such a genre-bending tale that serves both as entertainment and thoughtful social commentary.” – Women CineMakers Magazine
Raw Chemistry
Short Film.
By Kara Chamberlain & Sarah Sawyer McCarthy
Produced by Cygnet Films Entertainment
Book Lover
What could be better than getting caught up in a good book? A hunky main character!
An ode to book lovers everywhere, the film was first released on National Book Day in 2025.
