The Playwrights Database
WILLARD SIMMS
(1953 - )Nationality: USA
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Willard Simms is the author of 11 published plays, 14 produced teleplays, and two television mini-series. His play "Wright From America", won the Juneteenth National Playwriting Competition in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of "POE!", which won the Maltese Falcon Award from the Mystery Writers of America. His one person play, "Einstein: A Stage Portrait", played Off Broadway at the American Jewish Theatre, has been produced all over the world, and was shown on USA television. He wrote eight episodes for the network television series "Family", starring Charles Brolin and Sada Thompson. His PBS docudrama on Leonardo da Vinci starred Vincent Price and was sold nationally on DVD. Mr. Simms is an expert in biographical drama, and included in his television work are scripts on Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and a Mini-series on the life St. Francis of Assissi. "Bye Bye Blackbird", his script about the life of 1920's flapper queen Zelda Fitzgerald made virtually every Critics Pick list at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. "Ghost of the Frontier" tells the true story of the life of the former slave, Colorado mountain man, and Crow Indian Chief - Jim Beckwourth. Writing Fellowships include the National Endowment for the Humanities, Shubert Theatre Foundation, Arrowhead Stage Company, Rocky Mountain Stage, Denver Public Library, and the Denver Mayors Committee. He was the first playwright ever commissioned by the Denver Center Theatre - and his play "Colorado Quest", the official Colorado state historical drama, toured communities all over the state in the 1970's. Writing awards include the Mystery Writers of America, the Shubert Foundation, the University of Louisville, the University of Oklahoma, the Telluride Theatre Festival, Drama-Logue, and the Colorado Authors League.
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below is a list of Willard Simms's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Acting Lesson, The Alice In Wonderland Bye Bye Blackbird Einstein Jim Bridger - Mountain Man King Midas and the Golden Touch Miss Farnsworth Now Passing Of An Actor, The Space War 2000 then Thursday Meets The Wolfman Two's A Crowd Wizard of Oz in the Wild West, TheActing Lesson, The
Synopsis:
Beginning with rudimentary exercises in self-expression, the Teacher has his three students (two actors, one actress) become plants opening forth to the sun, and then various trees with their characteristic natures. From this they go on to depict children playing with imaginary toys-and falling into the pouts and tantrums to which such activity so often leads. And then comes a more complex situation. Both actors are to be young lovers proposing marriage to the actress, and each is to follow the same script-with the final lines left blank. they are free to vary their style of delivery to fit their feelings, putting as much as possible of their own personalities into their playing, with the final decision as to who will be accepted left to the actress to improvise. the last lesson is for the actors to play the most difficult roles of all-themselves. One of them reaches a point of true self-understanding. the others flounder-but in their failure is a greater lesson, and one which infuses the play with a signific
Notes:
Part of the trilogy entitled "Variations on An Untitled theme."
1st Produced:
Southwest Theatre Conference
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
Music:
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Genre:
Drama One Act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageAlice In Wonderland
Synopsis:
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Notes:
Based on the novel "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Pioneer Drama
Music:
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Genre:
Adaptation
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageBye Bye Blackbird
Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageEinstein
Synopsis:
It is the 1950's and Albert Einstein has invited the audience to his house to finally set the record straight about who he really is. He is not a Godless communist, and is assuredly NOT the Father of the atomic bomb, as has been claimed! This one person play reveals the deeply human side of the great genius, the reluctant celebrity who changed forever the way we look at the universe. Variety said: "the importance of the play is the easy way the audience comes to view the complexities of a man who committed his entire life to science. . .Simms lightens the burden of a one-man show by writing dialogue full of wit, humor, and one-liners. . .telling, through a string of anecdotes, Einstein's metamorphosis from a bored high school dropout to the winner of the Nobel Prize. . ." the play has at its heart the terrible anguish Einstein ultimately faced when forced to choose between morality and science.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatic Publishing Company,
Music:
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageJim Bridger - Mountain Man
Synopsis:
Fifty years in the life of Jim Bridger the mountain man who taught Kit Carson about scouting and tracking
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Pioneer Drama
Music:
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Genre:
Monologue play
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageKing Midas and the Golden Touch
Synopsis:
King Midas asks a witch to grant him a wish - everything he touches turns to gold
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Pionneer Drama
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Short play
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageMiss Farnsworth
Synopsis:
Over the years Miss Farnsworth, now nearing 50, has found the world of reality to be a more and more painful experience, and has begun drifting off into increasingly frequent and wildly extreme fantasies involving herself and her fellow employees at the Goodwill store where she works. A young employee, Ralph, has begun to take a compassionate, kid-brother sort of interest in her-which she has completely misinterpreted-and he soon becomes the center of her fantasies. However, this is all shattered when Hymie, Ralph's partner in the storeroom, tells her of Ralph's wife and children. In a tender and moving fantasy scene Miss Farnsworth informs Ralph that she must go away because "you're too real, there's too much truth in you." She cannot go on seeing him every day, knowing that it had never been as she imagined, or ever could be, and she transfers to a Goodwill branch in the suburbs. the play ends on a tragic note as Miss Farnsworth, no longer able to escape into fantasy and yet unwilling to face the sterility of what real life has brought her, drifts helplessly into the futile half-world between.
Notes:
Part of the trilogy entitled "Variations on An Untitled theme." First presented At West Texas State University, this touching And highly imaginative play mingles humor And pathos in its Affecting examination of A lonely spinster who seeks in fantasy what she does not-or cannot-find in the real life.
1st Produced:
West Texas State University
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Drama One Act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageNow
Synopsis:
In NOW (subtitled SOFT DISCS DON't DRIVE HARD ENOUGH) the time is 1987 (or later), the place a high-tech, futuristic employment office in Los Angeles, dominated by a super-computer named "Leslie." Programmed to give almost human responses, Leslie is both the nemesis and delight (and even the love object) of the office manager, Mr. Worthmore, and, more than that, becomes a vital element of the play. In fact Worthmore, his compliant secretary, Miss Bunson, and a luckless job-seeker, Luke Luckington, all find themselves hilariously ensnared in Leslie's toils before the play reaches its ironic-and cautionary-conclusion.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Drama One Act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PagePassing Of An Actor, The
Synopsis:
An aging actor, forced into retirement after a lifetime on the stage, but knowing no other way to live, decides he will create for himself a life entirely of his own choosing. He takes up residence in a rundown, abandoned theatre, and hires other performers to come and act with him in a Drama based on Rostand's immortal "Cyrano de Bergerac," in which he, of course, is Cyrano. However, the play is really a kind of perversion of the original in that it allows Cyrano to live at the close of the play, and also to win Roxanne as his own, forever. At first the actors are rather amused at the Old Actor's comical and quaint actions but, ultimately, one of them becomes quite angry at the way he is being "used." He challenges the Old Actor to a duel, following the true script of the play. the Old Actor now has to make a choice. He can accept the challenge and lose, as Cyrano did, or, instead, he can attempt to retreat as tactfully as possible-and thereby live to fight another day. His decision raises the play to a level of true tragic dimension, and saves the Old Actor from being nothing more than an escapist fool; showing him instead to be an honest, human, sympathetic character somehow pathetic and yet almost noble at the same time.
Notes:
Part of the trilogy entitled "Variations on An Untitled theme." Presented originally At West Texas State University. A highly original And Affecting work which combines power And pathos in its revealing study of An Aging Actor who seeks to find reality-and himself-through his uniquely personal interpretation of Rostand's CYRANO DE BERGERAC. ". . .a moving work. It touches the viewer with pathos first, And then comedy, but tragedy, which overrides the whole, is the culminating force." -Amarillo (Tex.) Globe-Times. Especially recommended for play contest use.
1st Produced:
West Texas State University
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
comedy Drama One Act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageSpace War 2000
Synopsis:
You are in another galaxy where a violent space war is in progress. The power-mad Prime Minister, Rastupo, of the planet Nargot, plans to overthrow Queen Delandrea, take over the Nargot space station and eventually control the entire galaxy. All roles may be played by either men or women. The costumes and settings are left entirely to your imagination. This play has lots of room for special effects, exciting confrontations and unusual characterizations, yet it is surprisingly simple to stage. It's the first play of its kind and a sure winner for any group!
Notes:
Written by Willard Simms and Sam Birnkrant
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Pioneer Drama
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Short play
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of Pagethen
Synopsis:
theN (subtitled I LOVE LUCY WHO?), takes place in 1957 in a small theatre in Connecticut, where Neville Smythe, a cape-swinging classical thespian of the old school, offers acting instruction to young hopefuls aiming for careers in television. the present batch of would-be superstars includes a compulsive stutterer (who fancies himself as a future network anchorman); a sexy, foul-mouthed blonde who has appeared in "art" films (meaning soft porn) but wants to move up to bigger (and better) roles; and a handsome, painfully conceited leading man type who aspires to be a talk show host. Neville's method is to plunge them into his beloved "Cyrano de Bergerac"-which results first in a near mutiny and then in some surprisingly affecting (albeit very funny) moments.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Drama One Act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageThursday Meets The Wolfman
Synopsis:
There have been a number of murders by the swamp. Sergeant Thursday investigates. Witnesses say that the murdered is very hairy and has big teeth
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Pioneer Drama 1974
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
One act
Parts:
Male: 8 Female: 8 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageTwo's A Crowd
Synopsis:
Filled with a numbing sense of discontent about the purpose of his life and the tedium of his job at the travel agency, Jack tells his fiancee that they must get away from it all, find a sanctuary in the mountains, recapture the feeling of oneness with nature. Perhaps, Mary Anne suggests, he should just change jobs, try for a managerial position with a larger salary. (Which, of course, shows how little she comprehends the import of what he is trying to say.) And yet a gentle embrace, a kiss, the promise of greater delights to come-and suddenly the impracticality of it all dawns on the male mind. Why not a better job? If you're committed in the right direction, doesn't it make the waiting easier? Whatever you say, agrees Mary Anne sweetly, as she mulls over what kind of furniture to buy with their riches to come.
Notes:
Gentle but slyly revealing study of the restless hopes And dreams which can foster A dangerous discontent in the hearts of young men And the feminine wiles which can so effortlessly bring things back to the way A girl wants them to be.
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, NY,
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
comedy One Act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageWizard of Oz in the Wild West, The
Synopsis:
Billy the Kid versus Dorothy! the Wicked Witch sends Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion to the Old Wild West.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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