STEPHEN LLOYD HELPER is an adventuresome award-winning playwright, devisor, librettist and lyricist whose work has strong social conscience, emotional power and, importantly, humor. He tackles important issues regarding health (both physical and mental), loss of loved ones, the plight of refugees, aging, identity, race and capitalism. Here are some examples from his work:

He is also no stranger to commercial success. A graduate of Yale (BA) and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (MFA), his musical SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE (co-conceiver) remains the record holder for the longest running revue in Broadway history (4 1/2 years). His play with music, CAFE REBETIKA!, about the plight of Greek refugees sold out its season at the Sydney Opera House and toured throughout Australia.

Currently he is co-writing with Grammy Award winning artist, Bobby Rush, the blues musical SLIPPIN' THROUGH THE CRACKS, Bobby Rush's Musical Journey. Filled with joy, hope and resilience, the show pulls no punches as to the hardship and profound barriers faced over 8 decades as an African American man. It is an African American success story.

Isabella Rossellini has committed to his three character play UP AND DOWN and we are seeking a regional development production. UP AND DOWN deals with the challenging topic of a woman in a coma with grace, humor, heartache and deep humanity. We discover through her all that might being going on inside her at varying levels of consciousness. She imagines herself getting out of bed, even dancing, and so, she does, though her partner and the nurse still see her as lying in the bed. This play won a TruVoices award from Theater Resources Unlimited in 2020.

His A SIGN OF THE TIMES premiered at Ars Nova Off-Broadway but was shuttered by the pandemic lockdown in March 2020 after only a few performances in previews. It starred Javier Muñoz. It is a one person play about a man who is grieving the loss of his young son. Unable to continue teaching at a pressure-cooker university, he takes a job in traffic control where his only responsibility is to turn the STOP/SLOW sign. Here, amidst controlling the occasional traffic (all done with sound effects), he strives to understand how and why cancer would take his son - and the devastating effect it has had on his marriage. Through the play, he finds his way to acceptance and will attempt to reconcile with his partner, the love of his life. This play was originally performed to stellar reviews and full houses in Sydney.

He has worked extensively as divisor, co-writer, director with Aboriginal theater artists throughout Australia getting important stories told.

This is what drives Steve. Connecting audiences with important stories that will last with them in their hearts and minds. Humor is one of his secret weapons and his ability to create rich, complex characters that people can recognize in themselves.