Samuel Harps(I)

Samuel interned at New York's New Dramatist, studying with noted playwrights August Wilson and Charles Oyamo Gordon, before becoming a member of The Negro Ensemble Company's playwright's program. His play Don't Explain, dedicated in memory to late trumpeter Lee Morgan, who was gunned down by his common-law wife at the Lower East Side Nightclub, Slugs, in 1972. The critically acclaimed drama was produced by Miguel Algarin and directed by Rome Neal at New York's famed Nuyorican Poet's Cafe. The play received seven prestigious AUDELCO Awards for excellence in African-American Theater, including best play and playwright. Harps co-wrote the screenplay for Don't Explain with Gordon Gavin, which starred Harry Lennix and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Samuel also received The Arts Council of Rockland County Executive Award for Literary Artist. New York productions by Harps include; The Paul Roberson Theater, The National Black Theater, Theater for the New City, Theater Four, Duality Playhouse, and HERE Theater. Regional productions include; Rutgers University, (Newark) Riverspace Arts, Nyack, N.Y., The EXIT Theater, (San Francisco) Vision Theater, Los Angelas, Christina Cultural Arts Center (Wilmington, DEL) The Painted Bride and Bushfire Theaters, both in Philadelphia.