Drama Queens, a five-star arts journal focusing on female artists

by Jake Mendel

Alyssa Simon, an actor with over thirty years of experience and a New York City resident for twenty-eight years, is set to appear in the new play, “A House Divided.” Originally from South Florida, where she grew up in Miami, Simon came to NYC to study at the Stella Adler Conservatory and to connect with influential figures like Joe Chaiken and Judith Malina of The Living Theatre. In addition to her acting career, Simon also cares for people’s homes and animals.

Simon is intrigued by the play’s exploration of time and change. “I’m fascinated by the difference of just four years from 2021 when the play takes place to now,” she says. “Way back then, there may have been a chance for Jim and Rosalie to find their way back to each other. Now, it’s impossible to be friends, much less partners with someone who voted for Trump again after his first term.”

She also highlights the play’s examination of the pandemic’s lasting impact: “Joshua Crone, the playwright, also captures so movingly, the trauma we all experienced during the pandemic and how it affected our relationships, especially dealing with issues of trust, intimacy, and loneliness. But the play is also funny, because families are funny and people are ridiculous.”

Regarding the play’s engagement with current events, Simon believes in the power of storytelling. “My responsibility is to tell the story and to take the audience on a journey,” she states. “The generational responses to transgenderism, Black Lives Matter, police brutality, interracial relationships, and vaccine skepticism are part of the circumstances of the text and each audience member will meet us with their own experiences and perspective. I don’t feel taking on a responsibility to manage or intuit how they may react would serve the play.”

Simon is also involved in several upcoming projects: “I have a few things coming up I’m really excited about. May 2nd-11th, I’m at the Chain Theatre in Hellish Delights written by Scott Sickles and directed by Jesse Edward Rosbow. Coincidentally, the same cast performed it in March of 2020 when we were shut down because of Covid. Then in June, I’m in Blood, Sweat & Queers by Tomáš Dianiška and directed by Edward Einhorn for Truth International Theatre Festival Honoring Václav Havel. August, I’ll be at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, also directed and written by Edward Einhorn.”