Charly Evon Simpson’s plays include Jump,* Behind the Sheet*, form of a girl unknown, it’s not a trip it’s a journey, sandblasted*, and more. Her work has been seen and/or developed with The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Vineyard Theatre, WP Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lark, Page 73, Ars Nova, Chautauqua Theater Company, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, The Fire This Time Festival, National New Play Network through its NNPN/Kennedy Center MFA Playwrights Workshop and National Showcase of New Plays, and others. Charly was named the 2019-20 recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award from the Vineyard Theatre, co-recipient of the Dramatists Guild’s Lanford Wilson Award, was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle’s John Gassner Award, and had two of her plays on the 2019 Kilroys List. Her play Jump is the first recipient of the David Goldman Fund for New Plays. She has received commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan, EST/Sloan, South Coast Repertory, Barnard College, and more. She’s currently a resident of New Dramatists. Charly is a former core writer at The Playwrights’ Center, member of WP Theater’s 2018-2020 Theater Lab, SPACE on Ryder Farm’s The Working Farm, Clubbed Thumb’s 17/18 Early Career Writers’ Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, and Pipeline Theatre Company’s PlayLab.
Charly is also writes for TV and film. From 2021-2023, she had an overall deal at HBO where she worked on the second season of Industry as well as other projects. She has also worked on shows for Showtime (American Rust) and Netflix. She currently is working on a new show for CBS.
Charly loves to teach playwriting and storytelling to people of all ages. She has been an adjunct lecturer at Fordham University, SUNY Purchase, and Hunter College. She has also taught with the 92Y, Engaging Educator, and National Theater Institute. Previously, she worked in middle schools as a full-time tutor, a social worker, and playwriting teacher.
She received her BA from Brown University, a master’s in Women’s Studies from University of Oxford, New College, and her MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College, where she studied with Annie Baker, Brighde Mullins, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
Charly lives in Brooklyn with her husband, son, and pup.
*Jump, Behind the Sheet , and sandblasted are available for purchase and licensing through Dramatists Play Service.