Jeanmarie Simpson Named 2026 Women Achiever of Arizona

Arizona Theatre Matters (ATM) announced that its Founding Artistic Director, Jeanmarie Simpson, has been named a 2026 Women Achiever of Arizona by the Arizona Capitol Times.

Simpson is being recognized as an Unsung Heroes Honoree and will be celebrated with this year's Women Achievers of Arizona on October 8, 2026.

For Simpson, whose life in theatre stretches back more than five decades, it is the particular designation Unsung Hero that carries the deepest meaning.

'Being recognized as an unsung hero melts my heart. I think of the multitudes of unsung creatives, audiences and students I represent — especially those who have traditionally been excluded from rooms, from opportunities and from the stories we tell. I receive this recognition with them in mind. They are part of every room I enter and every story I help bring forward.'

The honor arrives at a significant moment for both Simpson and Arizona Theatre Matters, the Glendale-based company she founded in 2012.

Under Simpson's artistic leadership, ATM has developed a distinctive model of theatre in which accessibility is not added after the work is made; it helps shape the work from its first creative decision. The company creates free online theatre for Blind, Deaf, hearing and sighted audiences, integrating voice performance, rich audio description, Artistic Sign Language performed by Deaf artists, multilingual captioning, sound and visual storytelling into the artistic form itself.

Today, ATM's digital work reaches audiences in 194 countries. Its online presence has grown to more than 120,000 subscribers and non-member audiences, bringing theatre created in Arizona to viewers around the world.

Recognition from Glendale to Washington

Simpson's Women Achiever honor follows growing recognition of Arizona Theatre Matters and sustained public investment in its work at the city, state and national levels.

In 2024, Governor Katie Hobbs recognized Arizona Theatre Matters for its contribution to Arizona's cultural landscape and its commitment to making the arts accessible to Arizonans. The Governor's recognition highlighted the company's diverse storytelling and its work to expand participation in the performing arts.

Arizona Theatre Matters has also received multi-year support from the City of Glendale, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts — representing public investment in the company from its home city, its state and the nation. ATM currently receives the highest level of Arizona Commission on the Arts funding available within its organizational size category.

The support reflects an artistic philosophy that has become increasingly central to the company's identity: the people traditionally described as needing 'access' are not peripheral to the artistic process. They are among the artists, audiences, collaborators and teachers shaping the work.

More Than Five Decades in the Theatre

Simpson has been making theatre since the early 1970s, working across writing, performance, directing, teaching and artistic leadership.

Over the course of her career, she has received dozens of grants, prizes and other honors supporting her work. Her theatre has repeatedly engaged questions of conscience, resistance, power, erased histories and the lives of women whose stories have been diminished or overlooked.

In 2025, Upstage Left Press published Simpson's When Churchyards Yawn and Other Plays, a collection of four works examining conscience, resistance and power through a feminist lens.

Her current work with Arizona Theatre Matters continues that inquiry while asking another fundamental question: What becomes possible when the room is built for the people in it?

It is a question reflected in ATM's collaborations with Blind voice actors, Deaf Sign Language performers, disabled artists, writers, directors, designers, scholars, educators and artists across cultures and generations.

And it gives Simpson's recognition as an Unsung Hero particular resonance.

Behind every visible artist, production or institution are people whose work may never receive a headline: artists creating outside traditional systems, students searching for a way into the field, audiences for whom conventional theatre has not been built, technicians and collaborators whose labor makes the work possible, and communities whose stories have too often remained outside the room.

For Simpson, they are not outside the story. They are the story.

Women Achievers of Arizona

The 2026 Women Achievers of Arizona celebration will take place October 8, 2026.

Presented by the Arizona Capitol Times, the annual recognition celebrates Arizona women for their leadership, professional accomplishments and contributions to their communities.

Arizona Theatre Matters has invited its artists, audiences, students, educators, colleagues and supporters in Arizona and around the world to join in celebrating Simpson and the 2026 honorees.

About Jeanmarie Simpson

Jeanmarie Simpson is a playwright, performer, director, educator and the Founding Artistic Director of Arizona Theatre Matters. She has been making theatre since the early 1970s and has received dozens of grants, prizes and other honors over a career spanning more than five decades.

Her work frequently centers women, conscience, resistance, erased histories and the relationship between theatre and social change. In 2025, Upstage Left Press published When Churchyards Yawn and Other Plays, a collection of four of Simpson's works. She lives in Glendale, Arizona, where she continues to write, direct and develop theatre for audiences around the world.

About Arizona Theatre Matters

Founded in 2012 and based in Glendale, Arizona Theatre Matters creates theatre everyone can experience together.

ATM produces free online theatre built from the beginning for Blind, Deaf, hearing and sighted audiences. Its productions integrate rich audio description, Artistic Sign Language performed by Deaf artists, multilingual captions, voice performance, sound and visual storytelling as part of the creative work itself.

Arizona Theatre Matters has grown from a local Arizona arts organization into a global online theatre company whose work reaches audiences in 194 countries. The organization receives public arts support from the City of Glendale, Arizona Commission on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts and was recognized by Governor Katie Hobbs in 2024 for its contribution to Arizona's cultural landscape and commitment to arts accessibility.

arizonatheatrematters.org