Women Empowered
Simone Moore – Her true knowledge is her knowledge of self
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
“I think it’s necessary for us to tell our own stories and create our own platform. As an artist, it’s very liberating to have complete creative freedom, and I hope that sharing my experiences as a Jamaican woman in the diaspora will inspire and challenge others on the road to self-discovery. I have to say that my story starts in Africa, not Jamaica. As I grow more and more, I know my story starts in Africa, especially West Africa. It has been a real eye opener for me.”
I have to admit. I sat there mesmerized by this dynamic force that the world knows as Simone Moore. We had been going back and forth getting an interview set up, but once I sat down in front of her, it was all worth it.
Simone Moore is an actress, writer, and artist born on the beautiful island of Jamaica, and raised in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to spectacular theatre performances, Simone has appeared in hit television series such as: Boston Legal, Cold Case, Without A Trace, and All of Us. Simone received her MFA from the University of California at San Diego, where she studied under: Des McAnuff, Tina Landau, Fiona Shaw, Darko Tresnjak, and Lisa Harrow of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
She is more recently known for her appearances as Sherry Jones in NBC’s Law & Order: Organized Crime, Coretta Scott King in HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, and Lady Macbeth for The Shakespeare Center Los Angeles’ production of Macbeth. She is also the writer and director of The Divorce Comedy: A Spiritual Study, which premiered at REDCAT’s 2020 New Original Works (N.O.W.) Festival and can be streamed on YouTube. We are going to get to her debut in a minute, but first, let me share some of her story with you.
I was really tired when I got on the call with Simone, but upon seeing her, my energy changed. I could absolutely tell that her decision to be an actress was pre-assigned because her charisma, her animated personality, and her natural beauty set her apart from actresses that we see in the industry. Her comment on “My story starts in Africa,” caught me, so I immersed myself into her story.
“I grew up in Montego Bay Jamaica in a big family. I loved my childhood. I would play for hours and hours. I had this space in our yard that was enclosed, but there was a clearing. This helped to grow my imagination. I would grater pear seeds just to see the colour. There was such innocence in childhood.
My family was poor, but I have revisited that word in my life. We had richness of space, imagination, time, and play. I also had a sense that we were lacking.
I used to dance and sing all the time; I really liked Tina Turner, and still admire her to this day. I had a sense of being even though I did not have the luxuries of life. I still felt so rich. There is something about growing up in Jamaica; everything is connected to music. Listening to it on the breeze, hearing far off voices singing, Patois, all of it has made me who I am today.
When I came to America it was very different. I didn’t have that imaginary space; now I was in an apartment, and the television became the sole source of inspiration. I shut down a bit, I must admit. It wasn’t until I got to college that I opened back up. I decided to take all the dance classes, even though my mom really wanted me to be a nurse.
The first time I felt that draw to being an actress was when I played a beggar woman in a play called Blood Wedding. I swear, the part was mine; it had me written all over that. I had a one-piece bathing suit and a cape. That was my first stage production, and I fell in love with theatre.”
After college, and doing some acting, Simone went back to work, and decided to go to Brooklyn College, where she met Paul Campbell.
“He gave me space to grow. He was such a brilliant artist. In one of his plays he was an artist, and he actually painted me. We had the experience of going on tour, and I was getting paid very well. That opened my eyes to what I could do. I then saw the vision of being an actress and having an actress’s life. I learned I could really drop it, go into my soul and really capture the audience. You have to learn yourself; this is how you get your power. This is true empowerment.”
Simone went to France for a year, came back, and went to Drama school in California. This has brought her to her current position as a producer and writer of The Divorce Comedy – an exploration into the absurdity, isolation, and loss of identity in marriage and divorce. The one-woman show premiered at REDCAT’s annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival and is now available on YouTube.
Simone Moore wrote and performed The Divorce Comedy during the onset of the pandemic and was mainly inspired to create a reflection of her personal struggles. The production was selected among nine performances to air during REDCAT’s fall 2020 season. The short film features video photography by Barron Claiborne, Afro-Caribbean dance, singing, and reggae deejaying.
The Divorce Comedy,” Simone shares, “Is about that time in my life. The process of writing that play really allowed me time to introspect. I could see who I was with each character in that moment. This is why storytelling and writing is such a gift. It took 27 rewrites to get the play where I wanted it to be. I had to bring it from an hour to 20 minutes.
I would say that I am a Master actress; I have studied the profession and I had 14 years of classes to become a seasoned actress. I really implore people to take the time to get to know themselves. That act alone will help you grow into the person you are supposed to be.”
For the first time since its debut, viewers can watch The Divorce Comedy for free on YouTube. The Divorce Comedy is rated for mature audiences on YouTube and will run from June 20th, 2022, through August 6th, 2022. To watch the solo performance, viewers can visit the actress’ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyMaAGZJW7s-kg5XQftn69A