Episode 71: Godfrey Simmons from HartBeat Ensemble

The Creative Alchemist

Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. is an award-winning actor, producer, director, and playwright who has spent over thirty years amplifying the voices of marginalized people and communities. And he is a father to Samuel. He is Artistic Director for HartBeat Ensemble in Hartford, CT, where he has co-produced the Off-Broadway virtual production of American Dreams with Working Theater, . In 2012, he co-founded Civic Ensemble, a regional theatre in Ithaca, NY. For Civic, he directed Eugene O’Neill’s All God’s Chillun Got Wings and appeared in Judy Tate's Fast Blood and Athol Fugard's My Children! My Africa!. Godfrey was a Producing Artist for Off-Broadway’s Epic Theatre Ensemble for four years, appearing in The Winning Side, A More Perfect Union, Widowers’ Houses (which Godfrey co-adapted with Ron Russell), Measure for Measure, Einstein's Gift, and A Hard Heart, among other plays. Also for Epic,.he co-wrote and starred in a documentary play about the election of President Barack Obama, Dispatches From (A)mended America. Godfrey and his colleague Brandt Adams, traveled throughout the American South interviewing 100 Southerners about the election. He won the 1999 Audelco Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in John Henry Redwood's Old Settler opposite Leslie Uggams at Primary Stages. He appeared in award-winning productions at Playwrights Horizons (Betty's Summer Vacation, Obie Award-Best Play) and Round House Theatre (Home, Helen Hayes Award-Best Production). His radio show The Griot Hour appeared from 2015-2019 on the Ithaca, NY Community Radio station WRFI, where he has just begun co-hosting the Black Lives Matter Forum. Godfrey is a 2012 TCG/Fox Fellow and a lifetime member of Ensemble Studio Theatre. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thecreativealchemist/support