Jeanmarie Simpson Playwright · Actor · Director Licensing
Teaching

For Educators

Everything a programme needs to read, teach, audition from, or stage one of these plays. Scene packets, monologues, discussion guides, excerpts and review copies are sent free to teachers, lecturers and programme directors, with no obligation to licence anything.

Pitti Sing, The Mikado, 1977

Seven things you can ask for

Grouped by where you will use them
In the classroom
  • Classroom scene packets, cut to length and cast for the students you actually have
  • Teaching and discussion guides, with questions that survive a real seminar
In the studio
  • Monologues for actor training and audition work, selected by age and range
  • Performance excerpts for scene study and for showcase programmes
  • Workshop and guest discussion availability, in person or online
On the stage
  • Review copies of any play in the catalogue, sent for reading and consideration
  • Production and staging information, including cast size, running time and technical demand

What the plays are about

For syllabus planning
Memory Political history Ritual Survival Gender Mythology Shakespearean inheritance Contemporary performance
Nothing here is sent on approval. If a play is useful to your students, take it into the room. On educational use

Choosing a play

Programme need, matched to a title
A single class periodLifeboat SixTwenty minutes, one performer, no technical requirement at all.1 performer, 20 minutesAdvanced solo studyLear: A Solo AdaptationAn entire Shakespearean tragedy carried by one actor and a cloak.1 performer, 60 minutesA full class on stageWhen Churchyards YawnTen roles of comparable weight, pairs directly with a Hamlet unit.10 performers, 90 minutes, optional intermissionHistory or civics crossoverBambino Mio: Bright Little FlameMaria Montessori, three performers, a figure students already meet.3 performers, 90 minutesA studio scene unitThe Jewish QuestionContemporary argument written for three actors of contrasting temperament.3 performers, 90 minutesTouring with no budgetHeretic: The Mary Dyer StoryOne performer, minimal staging, playable in a hall or a meeting house.1 performer, 80 minutes

The full catalogue can be filtered by cast size and running time, and every play page carries a note on classroom use.

Browse all thirteen plays

Review copy request

Scripts and materials, sent free to educators

Fill in as much as is useful. The more she knows about your term and your students, the better the selection that comes back.

What happens next

Three steps, no sales process

01

She reads your message and replies herself, usually within a few days.

02

Scripts and supporting material arrive as files you can circulate to your students.

03

If you decide to stage a play, licensing is agreed separately and scaled to your institution.

Fitting a play to a syllabus

Practical guidance

Most of these plays sit alongside texts you are already teaching rather than replacing them.

Shakespeare units

When Churchyards Yawn reopens Hamlet by putting its dead in a room together. Lear gives one advanced student the whole tragedy.

History and civics

Jeannette Rankin, Mary Dyer, Clara Barton and Maria Montessori each arrive with a documented life behind them, which makes research assignments straightforward.

Solo performance

Five solo pieces run from twenty to eighty minutes, which covers a showcase slot, a jury piece and a full evening.

Small budgets

Technical demand is listed on every play page, and several titles are written for a bare stage on purpose.

In 1989, Jeanmarie entered my life and changed it forever. She asked me to audition for the play, Quilters. Over the next 11 years and over a dozen plays, Jeanmarie taught me about myself through the characters I became. Barbara Lee
Jeanmarie’s work with my son changed his life for the better. His disability made him a target for bullying. She gave him opportunities to interact with his classmates in ways he never had before. Jeff Osten
In person or online

Bring the writer into the room

A guest discussion, a single workshop, a multi day intensive or a full residency can be built around whichever play your students are reading.

Workshops and residencies How she trains actors
Ann Hathaway, Shakespeare’s Will, 2007
Ann Hathaway, Shakespeare’s Will, 2007
Keep in touch

New plays, new productions, twice a year

A short letter when a play is finished, when a production opens, or when new classroom material becomes available. Nothing else.

The
catalogueThirteen plays, filterable by cast and running timeOpenOrder
scriptsReading copies for a whole classOpenLicensing
a playRights for schools, colleges and community theatresOpen

New plays and new productions, twice a year. Nothing else.

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