Whole generations have read the global bestseller, The Prophet, but how much do they know about its enigmatic author, Kahlil Gibran? Less known still is the woman responsible for his fame, Mary Haskell, a Southern social reformer decades ahead of her time.

Two impressionable actors, Salim and Lucy, land the roles of a lifetime: Khalil Gibran and Mary Haskell. As rehearsals progress, the actors grapple with their unpredictable characters, the meaning of love, and the stage kiss to end all. Offstage, a tragedy strikes the play’s director, casting into doubt Gibran’s and Haskell’s lofty, if unrealized, ideals. From infatuation to heartache to conviction, each character is tested in his/her quest to seize the higher love.

These parallel love stories, separated by a century, underscore the timelessness of humankind's search for transcendence through connection—and the barriers of race and religion that make its attainment so rare.

Winner of four workshop competitions and a finalist for the Trustus Award, The Higher Love has been called “an impressive literary sleight of hand and heart” by novelist Isabella Ides. “The double dramatization/intersection of the actors and their characters was a sublime and deep metaphor mirroring the way lovers mythologize themselves.” Tania Sammons, former curator of the Gibran Collection, writes, “Germaine Shames captures the essence of Mary and Kahlil and brings depth to their story in her wonderful new play.”