Godfrey Simmons and Sydney Yu ’25 Reflect on Their Directorial Work on “Baltimore”

Linnea Mayo ’26

Arts & Entertainment Editor

“Baltimore,” directed by Visiting Professor of Theater and Dance Godfrey Simmons and assistant directed by Sydney Yu ’25, is written by Kirsten Greenidge. The play follows Shelby, a Black residential advisor, as she navigates the challenges that arise after a racially charged incident occurs in her dorm building, and how the community is dealing with how to move forward. 

Simmons is a Visiting Lecturer in Theater and Dance at Trinity as well as the Artistic Director of Hartbeat Ensemble, Hartford’s Public Theatre company. Simmons has a diverse background in theater, beginning with his studies in the College of William & Mary and expanding to professional roles in D.C., New York and Pennsylvania. He was a company member of People’s Light Theater Company and has worked as a teaching artist. His work has spanned a variety of age groups, from elementary to high school students, and includes teaching formerly incarcerated adults and those reentering society after incarceration. A “citizen artist,” Simmons’s work is deeply politically engaged and often addresses social issues, as reflected in his choice to direct Baltimore, a play that resonates with recent events at Trinity. 

Simmons told Tripod, “Baltimore is about how you navigate this situation and what is the way forward. It’s about how to have conversations when something goes wrong. It’s not about someone doing something racist or sexist, it’s about how do we deal with it? How do we have the conversation? So, the audience will see people engaged in conversation about it, including the perpetrator, about what it takes to have those conversations and to see each other when we are having those conversations.”

Yu, a double major in Theater and Dance and Music, is highly involved in both performing arts and campus leadership. She serves as the music director for Quirks A Cappella, sectional leader for Chapel Singers, a student library assistant at Watkinson Library and a program ambassador for Trinity/La MaMa. In addition to these roles, she has been deeply engaged in acting, participating in several departmental productions. This includes playing Ella in Trinity’s recent adaptation of “Cinderella,” being Chorus Leader and Head of the Society of “Futurity,” Laertes in “Hamlet” and Emily in “And If You Lose Your Way, or A Food Odyssey.” Yu has also appeared in student thesis projects, playing Percy in “Hank, Percy, Eloise & Sal Have a Bad Day” and Amelia in “Vision.”

This is Yu’s first time assistant directing a school production. Yu’s passion for theater began in high school when she founded a drama club at her international school in Beijing, where the arts were scarce. During fall 2023, Yu took part in Trinity/La MaMa Performing Arts Program, where she devised various original pieces. “That experience showed me the power of forming something from scratch and using a group effort to tell a story,” she reflected. At Trinity, her interest in directing deepened after taking inspiring classes, prompting her to get involved in assistant directing “Baltimore.”

When speaking with the Tripod, Yu said, “This play takes up the question of where we are right now. Shelby, the main character, isn’t alone. There are so many people like her who avoid having these conversations and refuse to see the existence of race and the history that has happened. The story forces us to see what stage we are standing on and what we should be considering. And, how are we going to talk about this, because it’s everywhere, it’s never going to be gone.”  

Simmons and Yu emphasized their efforts to build a strong sense of community among the cast, crew, and designers, to create a team to tackle the heavy topics and stories within the script. “I think it’s acknowledging the work that the cast is doing by embodying these characters. There are people playing people who are doing hurtful things. There are people who are suffering under the weight of hurtful things. And there’s people who do both and everyone in between. That is a lot to carry,” said Simmons. 

Through activities like story circles, engaging in these conversations as a collective and checking in where people are coming from, the group has prioritized ensuring that everyone feels heard and cared for throughout the process. Simmons said, “You can’t do a play like this unless you’re actually engaging in conversations as a collective, as a cast or at least check in. I think a deep acknowledgement of that along the way is really important. We are trying to make sure that the cast are feeling taken care of, have resources to draw on, and support from each other and us to be able to tell this story.”

In bringing this storyline to Trinity, Simmons and Yu have also worked deliberately to keep the events of the play connected to the Trinity community. “We have been trying to engage the audience by connecting the show with Trinity somehow. We are trying to add nuance and details of sound to get the audience to realize this is not detached from them, this is actually so close to them,” said Yu. 

When working with the young actors, Simmons explained that it’s critical to let them have agency, know when to step back and encourage them to push themselves. “It’s about knowing when to get out of the way and when to push. Sometimes you need to push and encourage students to try something new,” he said. “There is stuff that I don’t know, and stuff I find out about an actor through their experience to help understand how the show or character exists in their body and how it lands on them.”

When speaking with the Tripod, Yu explained that this experience has allowed her to navigate guiding a diverse cast with varying levels of experience and skills. “Using the same method of conveying my idea won’t work with every single person, and that’s something I really learned from Professor Simmons. I learned I could use tools like drawing upon personal stories of the cast or using physical gestures. Or, for more experienced actors, just let them try it. And for those who really relate to the role, just to be themselves,” she said.

Yu shared how her involvement with “Baltimore” has changed her perspective on leadership and how to address valuable conversations as they arise with the help of Simmons. “Professor Simmons has helped me address things with the cast and group that I did not feel comfortable doing in the beginning,” she said. “This semester, doing this play while also taking Dr. Brown’s Shakespeare and Other Race Plays course, it forced me to think about these questions and see how this society operates. It’s helped me understand why I think this way and how, as a leader and a director, to address it with my peers and this community. I think that has been a huge step for me, and I’m really grateful for that.”

When asked what her most rewarding moment has been, Yu said that “It was really rewarding when what I tried to convey actually happened on stage. It was quite intimidating in the beginning, but the teamwork of the actors willing to try it, and letting myself express what I wanted was really special. Regardless of the end product, I think the process has been really memorable.” 

“Baltimore” will premiere at the Goodwin Theater in the Austin Arts Center the weekend of Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, and you can find more information on the Austin Arts website. “If you come, we are going to have this conversation and the students are not going to shy away from having a conversation about how we see each other,” said Simmons.