Buffalo’s Prodigal Daughter Returns to Direct Southern Gothic Thriller, OAK

Dawn Meredith Simmons, the esteemed Buffalo-born theater artist, is marking her Alleyway Theatre debut by directing the World Premiere of Terry Guest’s Oak. Part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, Oak is a Southern Gothic thriller that centers on a single mother and her family as they grapple with the line between man and monster. The play features three kids, a swamp creature, and a lady with a shotgun—a thrilling, Halloween-time ghost story perfect for this self-proclaimed horror fan.

The once House Manager for both Irish Classical Theatre Company and Shakespeare in Delaware Park holds a BA from the University at Buffalo before she went to Boston University to study playwriting. Simmons originally planned to return home after studying in Boston.

“I was going to start a theater or run a theatre,” Simmons recalls. “But Boston had other plans, and the opportunities continued.”

Simmons’ prolific career took root in Boston. She co-founded her first company, New Exhibition Room, and later became the Artistic Director and co-founder of Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston’s leading Black theatre company. She also served as Executive Director of StageSource and Director of Performing Arts at the Boston Center for the Arts. Most recently, the award-winning director, playwright, arts administrator, and educator accepted the position of Artistic Director of Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage, following a six-month nationwide search that included over 100 candidates.

Simmons describes her theater directing philosophy as striving for a “full-bodied experience” for audiences.

“I’m always saying I want something that makes you lean back or lean forward. As you are watching it, your body can’t help but react! You see something crazy and you wanna jump out of your seat or cry! That’s my philosophy, I am going to make you feel something!”

As a practicing theater artist, Simmons notes that in Boston, much like Buffalo, theater folk often need other means of support. “We go to school to act, we go to school to make theater, we go to school to make art and… it’s hard to get paid for those things. Some of us are teachers, or we run non-profits, or we’re lawyers! It’s such a tough time for theater, it’s a tough time for us all.”

If you’re an artist, she advises, “It’s a long game. Our success is not right away, you have to have patience and stamina. But if you can persevere, it’s worth it.” The return to her hometown to direct Oak holds special significance for Simmons, particularly for the opportunities it represents for artists of color.

“One of the highlights of my career is coming here and doing a show, especially when I was here in Buffalo working,” she says. “Ujima was here but there weren’t as many opportunities for artists of color, especially Black theater makers, to have a place to make theater all the time. To come here and have a Black team to make Oak... Oh, it feels so good!”

She stresses the value of this environment: “These moments where you can be in community, in conversation, not have to code switch and get to work, talking, together and be authentic, good, and fun! These moments are worth it. But they’re few and far between until we can get to a point where we can just keep making them happen. But you have to stick it out.”

OAK plays October 24 thru November 15, at Alleyway Theatre. For more info visit Alleyway.com