A Few Short Plays to Save the World

WINNER: Independent Press Award 2023 (Performing Arts - Film, Theater, Dance & Music)

Honored by:

The American Fiction Awards (Finalist - Anthology) and The Hollywood Book Festival (Runner Up - Anthology)

A collection of funny and explosive short plays by award-winning playwright and television writer Steve Harper. Playwrights of color in space, a geriatric artist looking for her magic and a computer-generated President are some of the characters you'll meet in this powerful collection of unexpected, insightful and engaging short plays by award-winning playwright and television writer Steve Harper. This dynamic compilation of 17 plays spans a variety of circumstances and topics with humor and magical realism. Ranging from three minutes to forty minutes, with roles for diverse actors of varying ages, these works have delighted audiences across the country. A resource for theater professionals, students, and audiences hungry for a dynamic new take on American life. Described as "an anthology of hope" by The Classical Theatre of Harlem's Director of Literary Programs, A Few Short Plays to Save the World is a vibrant gift to anyone who loves theatrical storytelling.

STEVE HARPER was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently lives in Los Angeles. He is a playwright, TV writer, producer and actor who writes about the "invisible things" (like race, sexuality, politics and religion) that people don't usually talk about. His full-length plays include Black Lives / Blue Lives [co-written with Bill Mesce, Jr.] (The Theater Project, NJ), Urban Rabbit Chronicles (Georgia Southern University), Princeton Theory, Almost, and The Escape Artist's Children. Readings and workshops: Classical Theatre of Harlem, Lower Depth Theater Ensemble, Celebration Theatre, Malibu Playhouse, Vivid Stage, Roundhouse Theater, Northwestern University, Loyola Marymount University, New York Stage & Film and New York Theatre Workshop. Steve served as Co-Executive Producer for the CW series Stargirl. He's written for God Friended Me, Tell Me Your Secrets, American Crime and Covert Affairs. His web series SEND ME, about time traveling black people, garnered a 2016 Emmy Nomination for series lead Tracie Thoms (Now on YouTube). Steve's acting work spans TV, film, theater, commercials and voice overs. Awards and honors include a selection as a semi-finalist for the O'Neill Theater Center, the Artistic Achievement Award from the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale, the Millennium Telly Award, a Weissberger Award nomination, two grants from Lincoln Center's Lecomte Du Nuoy Foundation, a MacDowell National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and two Yaddo fellowships. He is a graduate of Yale, the A.R.T. Institute at Harvard and the Juilliard playwriting program. He also coaches professional and aspiring writers through his company Your Creative Life.

Shawn René Graham (Editor / Foreword) is a freelance writer and dramaturg from San Jose, California who has worked with many writers including Dennis Allen, France-Luce Benson, Nilo Cruz, Steve Harper, Walter Mosley, Lynn Nottage, Paul Rudnick, Susan Sontag, Dominic A. Taylor, Judy Tate, and Cori Thomas. She has been a guest dramaturg at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, the Crossroads Theatre Company's Genesis Festival, the New Professional Theatre, and African American Women's New Play Festival; and has served on many panels including the National Endowments for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights, the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grants Panel in Playwriting, and the Mark Taper Forum's New Works Festival. She is currently the resident dramaturg of The American Slavery Project's Unheard Voices, the Literary Director for the Classical Theatre of Harlem's Future Classics Series and Playwright's Playground, and founder of All Creative Writes, an artistic assistance service designed to provide individual artists and performing arts organizations with administrative, fundraising and writing support. Ms. Graham holds degrees from the California State University, Los Angeles and the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. She joined The Field in 2012 and lives in Bronx, NY.

NAACP and OBIE Award Winner, Ty Jones (introduction) has been the Artistic Director of Classical Theater of Harlem since 2009. Artistic credits include: Broadway: The Great Society, ENRON, Judgement at Nuremberg, Julius Caesar, Henry IV; Classical Theatre of Harlem: The Blacks, Macbeth, Antigone, Henry V, Emancipation; Regional: American Shakespeare Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Guthrie Theatre; Film: Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Taking of Pelham 123, Redacted; TV: POWER, Blacklist, Chicago PD, Madam Secretary. He earned his MFA from the University of Delaware's Professional Theatre Training Program.