Jeanmarie Simpson is an American theatre artist whose life’s work centers women who challenge systems of power—political, religious, and cultural. She is a playwright, actor, director, and educator whose solo and ensemble works explore memory, resistance, and grief.

She is best known for A Single Woman, her play about Jeannette Rankin, which premiered Off-Broadway at The Culture Project and was adapted into a film featuring Judd Nelson, the voices of Martin Sheen and Patricia Arquette, and music by Joni Mitchell. The play toured to 53 countries across five continents and earned the “Best Theatrical Surprise” award from Sacramento News & Review. Jeanmarie performed A Single Woman at CalArts as a Surdna Distinguished Guest Artist.

As a performer, she has appeared in hundreds of solo and ensemble works. She starred in Shakespeare’s Will, directed by Leonard Nimoy, and The Road to Mecca, directed by Tony Award-winner Zakes Mokae. Her global touring credits include Coming In Hot, portraying 19 women in the U.S. military, and HERETIC – The Mary Dyer Story, which she performed from 2011 to 2019. She continues to perform her work in digital and live spaces through Arizona Theatre Matters and Universal Access Productions.

Jeanmarie’s recent original plays include Mackers, Lear – a solo adaptation, Ghosts of the Gilded Stage, Bambino Mio – Bright Little Flame, about Maria Montessori (recipient of a Living History Foundation grant); The Jewish Question, awarded Honorable Mention by the Jewish Plays Project; Pineapple and Other Options, featured in the Pandora New Works Festival; and Even Unto Death, about Isabelle Romée, mother of Joan of Arc. Her second-edition collection, When Churchyards Yawn and Other Plays (Upstage Left Press, 2026), gathers four of her recent theatrical works. Her creative projects have been supported by six Sierra Arts Foundation grants, twelve from the Nevada Arts Council, and multiple National Endowment for the Arts awards. In 2023, she served as a panelist for the NEA Theatre Grants for Arts Projects.

She has directed dozens of productions and is the Founding Artistic Director of Arizona Theatre Matters, which amplifies underrepresented voices through live and digital performance.

A committed educator and mentor, Jeanmarie has taught workshops and residencies for artists of all ages and abilities. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and is retired from Actors’ Equity Association, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and SAG-AFTRA.