Plays
The plays of Jeanmarie Simpson explore memory, political history, ritual, mythology, survival, gender, and the aftermath of power. Written for actors, educators, directors, universities, and community theatres, the work combines literary language with flexible theatrical production.
When Churchyards Yawn and Other Plays
Four plays about memory, ritual, collapse, and survival.
The collection includes four plays available as individual productions. Designed for universities, actors, educators, staged readings, independent theatres, and classroom use, the collection combines literary language, flexible staging, and psychologically driven performance.
- Ghosts of the Gilded StageCollection
- Lear: A Solo AdaptationCollection
- Even Unto DeathCollection
- When Churchyards YawnCollection
All Plays
Browse by cast size to find the right fit for your company.
Solo works — one performer
Brian, whose life has always run on the rhythms and systems of railways, traces the tracks through childhood, work, family, and connection. A solo play about the ways a singular passion becomes map, refuge, language, and lifeline.
Margaret Tobin Brown tells the story of Lifeboat Six without the legend that later swallowed her — fear, class, cold, and the disciplined communal work that kept a half-filled boat alive.
A powerful solo drama about faith, persecution, conscience, and resistance in Puritan New England.
A veteran actor sorts through costumes, props, and ghosts from a lifetime in the theatre — queer survival, artistic wounds, and the grace of learning how to leave the stage.
One actor and one tattered cloak hold the whole world of Shakespeare’s tragedy in the final flickering moments of Lear’s life.
Two to four performers
A poetic and deeply human portrait of Clara Barton — memory, war, service, and the emotional cost of humanitarian work.
Jeannette Rankin — the first woman elected to Congress — looks back on two historic votes against war. A portrait of a woman who kept choosing peace.
A historical drama centred on Maria Montessori — exile, education, memory, and the radical idea that peace begins with how adults treat children.
A contemporary kitchen-table drama confronting political identity, history, grief, and moral inheritance over a Shabbat dinner in Venice, California.
A full-length play about survival, memory, and unexpected connection — in which a dream encounter with a historical figure becomes an argument for staying alive and continuing the work.
Ensemble — six or more performers
In the aftermath of Joan of Arc’s execution, her family lives with what the public legend leaves out — grief, rage, faith, shame, and the terrible work of remembering.
A divine comedy. Shakespeare’s Hamlet company must climb through the seven deadly sins in Purgatory, building their own staircase toward Heaven while reckoning with the damage they did in life.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth as backstage catastrophe. Superstition, ego, and the brutal tenderness of theatre people collide in a preview performance that goes gloriously, increasingly wrong.
Excerpts & Educational Use
Selected excerpts, study materials, and production resources are available by request for educators, actors, directors, theatres, and university programs.
For classroom use, staged readings, workshops, production consideration, or licensing questions, please contact: