Steve Harper

Steve Harper

STEVE HARPER is a writer dedicated to exploring the “invisible things” that people are reluctant to talk about (like race, culture, spirituality, religion and sexuality). A collection: A Few Short Plays to Save the World, was published by Laughing Panda Press. His full-length plays include Urban Rabbit Chronicles (Georgia Southern University), Black Lives / Blue Lives [co-written with Bill Mesce, Jr.] (The...
STEVE HARPER is a writer dedicated to exploring the “invisible things” that people are reluctant to talk about (like race, culture, spirituality, religion and sexuality). A collection: A Few Short Plays to Save the World, was published by Laughing Panda Press. His full-length plays include Urban Rabbit Chronicles (Georgia Southern University), Black Lives / Blue Lives [co-written with Bill Mesce, Jr.] (The Theater Project, New Jersey), Call the Police!, Princeton Theory, Black/Out Stories, The Escape Artist’s Children (Workshop at Celebration Theatre) and Almost (Workshop at Loyola Marymount University). Short plays: Special Counsel and Iggie Imagines Marriage (Dreamcatcher Rep.), This is Now (24 Hour Plays on Broadway – American Airlines Theater), First Encounter (Falcon Theatre (NBC Showcase), Like the End of the World (American Theatre Company, Chicago), Actual Cost (Juilliard 100th), Abstract Purple (Baltimore Playwrights Festival). Readings and workshops include: Malibu Playhouse, Writers Guild of America West, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Stagecoach Theatre, Roundhouse Theater, New York Stage & Film, New York Theatre Workshop. Steve’s short films include Three People (#WhileWeBreathe creative protest online) – also director, the comic spy drama Intelligence – a selection of Dances with Films, and the supernatural comedy Betty on the Bed. His web series SEND ME, about time traveling black people, premiered on BET.com and garnered a 2016 Emmy Nomination for series lead Tracie Thoms. TV writing includes: Co-Executive Producer on the CW drama Stargirl, God Friended Me (CBS), Tell Me Your Secrets (Amazon Prime), ABC’s American Crime and the USA Network’s Covert Affairs. Awards include an Award of Excellence Special Mention at the IndieFEST Film Festival, Best Web Series award at the Bloodstained Film Festival, Best Sci-Fi Short and Best Actor at the Genre Celebration Festival, a playwright residency at Freedom Train Productions, the Artistic Achievement Award from the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale, the Millennium Telly Award, the Le Compte du Nouy prize at Juilliard, a MacDowell National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and two Yaddo fellowships. Steve is a graduate of Yale, The A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard and the playwriting program at Juilliard. www.harpercreates.com

Plays

  • Princeton Theory by Steve Harper
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 3 more
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    Keyword: Paul Robeson, Albert Einstein + 6 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, period, political
    Keyword: Paul Robeson, Albert Einstein, blacklist, 1950s, History, memory, McCarthyism, Princeton
    On Lloyd Brown’s deathbed, he’s challenged by the spirit of his late boss, Paul Robeson. Why? Because Lloyd blames Paul Robeson and Albert Einstein for ruining his life. Before Lloyd dies, Robeson takes him back to where it all happened to uncover the truth. 1952: the height of the blacklist. The Professor’s home in Princeton becomes a meeting place for two great men and their assistants. Princeton Theory is a...
    On Lloyd Brown’s deathbed, he’s challenged by the spirit of his late boss, Paul Robeson. Why? Because Lloyd blames Paul Robeson and Albert Einstein for ruining his life. Before Lloyd dies, Robeson takes him back to where it all happened to uncover the truth. 1952: the height of the blacklist. The Professor’s home in Princeton becomes a meeting place for two great men and their assistants. Princeton Theory is a play about fame, desperation and the will to survive. No one knows what happened in that house – until now. Based on real events.

    Based on real events.
  • Urban Rabbit Chronicles by Steve Harper
    Cast: 
    5–6
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 3 more
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    Keyword: New York, rabbit + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, fantasy, horror, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: New York, rabbit, urban, religion, Catholic, priest, Fantasy, African American, supernatural, marriage
    Ted and Karen, a black couple, are struggling in their marriage. When they purchase a rabbit statue at a flea market, Karen miraculously writes a novel in three days. As the book gets widely praised, Ted is convinced that Karen is possessed by the spirit of the rabbit statue. He recruits his pharmacy assistant and a Catholic priest in an attempt to rescue Karen and save their marriage. This drama explores...
    Ted and Karen, a black couple, are struggling in their marriage. When they purchase a rabbit statue at a flea market, Karen miraculously writes a novel in three days. As the book gets widely praised, Ted is convinced that Karen is possessed by the spirit of the rabbit statue. He recruits his pharmacy assistant and a Catholic priest in an attempt to rescue Karen and save their marriage. This drama explores relationships and faith with ample doses of humor and magical realism.
  • Almost by Steve Harper
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: entertainment industry, racism + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: entertainment industry, racism, black lives, acting, television, theatre, drama school
    Best friends Benjamin and Casey are two struggling actors navigating through the ups and downs of their careers New York City. But when Casey faces the possibility of success in a television series, Benjamin feels left behind, questioning the politics of show business, his viability as a black actor, and his value as a person. Almost is set in the acting world but tackles universal questions: What is success?...
    Best friends Benjamin and Casey are two struggling actors navigating through the ups and downs of their careers New York City. But when Casey faces the possibility of success in a television series, Benjamin feels left behind, questioning the politics of show business, his viability as a black actor, and his value as a person. Almost is set in the acting world but tackles universal questions: What is success? How do you find it? What happens if you don’t find it? And how do you survive along the way?
  • Black/Out Stories by Steve Harper
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: biography, comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: African American, black + 5 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental
    Keyword: African American, black, gay, coming out, religion, comedy, coming of age
    What does it mean to be black and gay in America? A writer in an interracial relationship begins interviewing Black folks in search of an answer. The resulting conversations are a fascinating examination of coming out in church settings and secular settings. The stories are funny, strange, and unpredictable, changing the writer’s relationship with his partner, his parents and himself. Black/Out Stories uses...
    What does it mean to be black and gay in America? A writer in an interracial relationship begins interviewing Black folks in search of an answer. The resulting conversations are a fascinating examination of coming out in church settings and secular settings. The stories are funny, strange, and unpredictable, changing the writer’s relationship with his partner, his parents and himself. Black/Out Stories uses actual interviews along with a fictionalized narrative in a unique hybrid of documentary theatre and dramatic exploration.
  • The Escape Artists Children by Steve Harper
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Lesbian, gay + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: Lesbian, gay, 12-Step, Mental Health, Depression, comedy, African American, queer
    When Grayson, an unemployed black attorney, struggles against an overwhelming depression due to the death of her father, and the fact that her brother is in a coma – even her girlfriend Angie and therapy don’t seem to be providing the cure. She talks to her comatose brother (and he talks back), and she sees her father everywhere. Then she runs into Sheri, her ex from Law School, who is married and (apparently)...
    When Grayson, an unemployed black attorney, struggles against an overwhelming depression due to the death of her father, and the fact that her brother is in a coma – even her girlfriend Angie and therapy don’t seem to be providing the cure. She talks to her comatose brother (and he talks back), and she sees her father everywhere. Then she runs into Sheri, her ex from Law School, who is married and (apparently) straight, and suddenly Grayson finds herself obsessed. Grayson begins to pursue Sheri in the hopes of getting a kiss she imagines will magically make things right. But what of her solid relationship with Angie? In this comedy, Grayson searches high and low, visits a twelve-step meeting, and wrestles with herself as she attempts to recover. The Escape Artists children tackles love, mysticism, and mental health in a way we can all relate to.
  • What I Know (a monologue originally presented as part of Black Lives / Blue Lives) by Steve Harper
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: drama
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    Keyword: black, black lives matter + 4 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: black, black lives matter, racism, police brutality, African American, monologue
    SHORT PLAY. In this 20-minute play, Greg Stephens, an upscale black lawyer, talks with police recruits about his experiences getting pulled over by the police when driving his Lexus around town. (This piece was commissioned by The Theater Project (New Jersey) as part of an evening called Black Lives / Blue Lives.)
  • Actual Cost by Steve Harper
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Race, money + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: Race, money, Finance, relationship, black lives, New York, subway.
    SHORT PLAY. In this 10-minute play, B.T. and Iyana, an interracial couple, are on the subway on their way to a wedding when they encounter Michael, a queer, black homeless man. When Michael asks for a donation, the couple is thrown into a quandry: she wants to give and he doesn't. Actual Cost is a comedy/drama about class, race and money.
  • Surviving the Craziness by Steve Harper
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: comedy
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    Keyword: horror, comedy + 1 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: horror, comedy, comic monologue
    SHORT PLAY. In this breezy, funny, 2-minute play, Marisa Hernandez is desperate to get her (unseen) co-worker to ditch work and go to a horror movie with her. She sees these films as a metaphor for the wildness of life.
  • Iggie Imagines Marriage by Steve Harper
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, science fiction
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    Keyword: one-act, short play + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, science fiction
    Keyword: one-act, short play, gay, queer, comedy, Fantasy, time-travel, marriage, Catholic
    SHORT PLAY. In this 30-minute play, Iggie, a fabulous and high-strung queer journalist, is nervous - being out of his element as the best man to his straight best friend, Matthew, at his very Catholic wedding. But things go off the rails when Iggie casually invokes a time-stopping superhero from his youth and TIME ACTUALLY STOPS. Iggie and Matthew try everything they can think of to get time going again -...
    SHORT PLAY. In this 30-minute play, Iggie, a fabulous and high-strung queer journalist, is nervous - being out of his element as the best man to his straight best friend, Matthew, at his very Catholic wedding. But things go off the rails when Iggie casually invokes a time-stopping superhero from his youth and TIME ACTUALLY STOPS. Iggie and Matthew try everything they can think of to get time going again - including baring their souls - in this revealing comedy about friendship and acceptance.