Degrees:
B.A., College of William and Mary
Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. was most recently Senior Lecturer in the Performing and Media Arts department at Cornell University. He has also taught and directed at Binghamton University, UConn-Hartford, Fairfield University, John Jay College, and Marymount Manhattan University.
He is Artistic Director of HartBeat Ensemble, Hartford’s Public Theatre. In Hartford, he appeared in HartBeat’s production of My Children! My Africa!, and Hartford Stage’s production of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play. This October he will be appearing in HartBeat’s production of Kyle Bass’ new play Possessing Harriet. Godfrey also co-founded Civic Ensemble, a community-based theatre company in Ithaca, NY. For Civic, he directed Eugene O’Neill’s All God’s Chillun Got Wings and The Next Storm, and appeared in My Children! My Africa!, Fast Blood and his adaptation of Mike Daisey’s The Trump Card.
Godfrey was Producing Artist in charge of New Artist Development for Off-Broadway’s Epic Theatre Ensemble, appearing in A More Perfect Union, Widowers' Houses (which Godfrey co-adapted with Ron Russell), and Measure for Measure, among other plays. At Epic, he also co-wrote and starred in a documentary play about the election of President Barack Obama, Dispatches From (A)mended America.
Additional New York theatre credits include The Old Settler (Primary Stages-Audelco Award), Betty’s Summer Vacation (Playwrights Horizons), Free Market (Working Theater), Leader of the People (New Georges), and microcrisis (Ensemble Studio Theater). Godfrey is a 2012 TCG/Fox Fellow, a participant in the TCG SPARK Leadership Program, and a lifetime member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.
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Select Creative Work:
- George Bailey, in It's a Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play, adapted by Joe Landry. Hartford Stage (December 2022).
- Director and Facilitator: Project X, written by Judy Tate. Fairfield University (December 2021).
- Author: Mr. Floyd. Video shot and edited by Alonzo Beckett. Commissioned and presented by People's Light: Always On (Fall 2020).
Select Publications:
- Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. and Brandt Adams. “Dispatches From (A)mended America.” In Epic Plays, Volume 2, edited by Chiori Miyagawa and Emily Mendelsohn, 162-231. Southgate, CA: NoPassport Press, 2017.
- “The Full Service Theatre—What We’ve Learned at Civic Ensemble,” HowlRound (August 20, 2015).
- “A Son’s Voice,” TCG Circle Blog, Theatre Communications Group (July 13, 2015).
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- Engaged Cornell Grant (Engaged Curriculum)--Co-Investigator Climates of Change, 2018
- Cornell Council for the Arts Grantee, 2018
- Engaged Cornell Grant – Engaged Curriculum (Co-Invest., Climates of Change), 2017
- American Theatre Magazine’s Inaugural Role Call: People to Watch (Oct. 2015), 2015
- Shared Journeys Multi-Faith World Award, 2015
- TCG/SPARK Leadership Fellow, 2014
- Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellow, Distinguished Achievement, 2012
- Cornell Council for the Arts Grantee, 2011
- Two-Time Empire State Partnership Fellow, 2008 & 2009
- AUDELCO AWARD, Best Supporting Actor, The Old Settler, Primary Stages (NYC), 1999
- Outstanding Achievement for Acting, NYU First Run Film Festival, The Appointment, 1999
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