Millicent Simmonds Stages a Theatrical Return
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“Grey House” has been a thrilling ride for star Millicent Simmonds and audiences alike. As far as Broadway plays go, the new production is a bit of an anomaly; the genre is horror, and taps into jump scares and visual effects typically reserved for the screen. For Simmonds, the production marks her Broadway debut.
“I never dreamt that I would be able to be an actor growing up,” says Simmonds. The 20-year-old actress, who’s deaf, isn’t just being humble; her admission is also a reflection of the industry. Growing up in Utah, she didn’t often see her experience reflected on screen and on stage.
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In 2017, Simmonds launched her professional acting career as the star of Todd Haynes’ 2017 film “Wonderstruck,” which premiered at Cannes. “On opening night for ‘Wonderstruck,’ to see myself on the screen and other people’s response to my performance on screen, that was the moment that changed my life,” says Simmonds, who began acting as a student at the Jean Massieu School of the Deaf in Millcreek, Utah. Since then, she’s starred in several blockbuster films and been nominated for the BAFTA EE Rising Star Award.
“While I was working in film, I missed the experience of being on stage,” says the expressive actress, through an ASL interpreter. It’s a couple of hours before the 2 p.m. curtain for “Grey House” — it’s a two-performance day — and the actress is Zooming in from her dressing room at the Lyceum Theatre.
Set in the ’70s, the play opens with a familiar horror premise: a married couple’s car breaks down during a winter storm in a remote wooded area. Looking for help, they stumble upon a cabin, inhabited by a strange woman and her motley crew of daughters. While the play asks many questions — around motherhood, family and morality — audiences are left to draw their own conclusions.
“There’s not a traditional plot line. It’s very layered,” says Simmonds, who stars as Bernie, one of the sisters at the cabin and the story’s only deaf character. The play was written by Levi Holloway, the artistic director for the Neverbird Project, a deaf and hearing youth theater company in Chicago.
“It’s interesting to see how Bernie navigates her life with the other people in this world. It’s not just about English and ASL as the two languages; you have so many languages operating in the house,” she says, adding that she’s enjoyed teaching her cast mates how to sign.
“We’ve also been working with a DASL — a director of artistic sign language, Andrew — who has been working on translations and looking at signs from the 1970s, which is very different than the sign language today.”
Simmonds credits the show’s director, Broadway veteran Joe Mantello, for his candor and willingness to collaborate.
“He said, ‘Millie, I have to be honest with you; I have never worked with deaf talent before. I’m very open and this will be my first time; if there’s any awkwardness or if anything goes awry, please let me know,’” she says. “I really appreciated that because not a lot of people are able to be that available with their thoughts.”
After breaking out in “Wonderstruck,” Simmonds went on to star in the John Krasinski-directed horror film “A Quiet Place” and its sequel. Her 2022 Rising Star nomination, in a cohort that included Ariana DeBose, Harris Dickinson, Kodi Smith-McPhee and winner Lashana Lynch, affirmed her trajectory.
“It felt like my work was being seen on par with other actors,” says Simmonds, reflecting on the honor. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be in that milieu, to have my work recognized by the industry and my peers.”
“Grey House” is set to run through early September. While unable to reveal what she’s working on next, Simmonds is set to star in “A Quiet Place III” and is attached to the action-thriller “Ballerina Overdrive.”
Noting that while many of her recent roles have veered “a little heavy, a little dark,” she’s excited to explore her range as an actress.
“It’s important for me to see disability represented on screen,” adds Simmonds. “So I like to be involved in the writer’s room, and going forward [I’d like] to work with directors, writers and producers to help think about more inclusive representation — and not just seeing it as a challenge, but seeing it as an opportunity.”
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