Samuel Harps
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme- mso-fareast- mso-fareast-theme- mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme- mso-bidi- mso-bidi-theme-} Love of one sort brought Samuel Harps from New York City to the Hudson Valley and love of another sort has kept him here.
Armed with a degree in journalism, Samuels began his work life pounding the pavement as a community reporter. “Not easy work,” said the multitalented Harps, who said his real love was writing plays.
In the mid-”™80s, Harps applied to Manhattan”™s New Dramatist for an internship and was among five aspiring playwrights chosen. “I had no idea the depth and scope of what it meant at the time because they probably receive hundreds of applications, and mine was one of the five chosen,” said Harps.
Harps said, “Love brought me to Nyack. The relationship ended, but my love for the area didn”™t diminish and I ended up moving here.” It wasn”™t long before Shades Repertory Company, the actors”™ group Harp formed 1994, slowly but steadily gained ground in his new backyard, Rockland County.
These days, you”™ll find Samuel Harps busy in the basement of Haverstraw”™s historic Central Presbyterian Church, which provides housing gratis for both Shades Repertory Company and the Haverstraw Youth Theater. HYT was originally made possible through initial funding from developer Martin Ginsburg. “Without Mr. Ginsburg, there would have been no outlet like this for kids in Haverstraw,” said Harps, who said the idea to start a youth theater began with the church”™s former pastor, Genardo Marin. Â
“It was Pastor Marin who called Bud Whitney, who runs the Rockland Youth Theater, to find out how to get started. He wanted to bring something to the children in the community, and he found a way to make it happen, and Mr. Ginsburg supplied the start-up money.”
Haverstraw Youth Theater (www.mikethebrit.com) was born in 2005. Now that is has just attained  501 (3) C status, it is applying for grants to keep the youth group going and growing. Initially starting with six girls, it”™s still a predominantly female ensemble, but two boys have ventured in to become part of the troupe.
The youth group”™s first play, “Brown Eyes,” originally intended to focus on teen pregnancy. “Instead, the story was improvised and became a play about a white girl who found a black baby in the trash and wanted to keep it. She hid it from her family, but eventually, as her friends became more involved, the ”˜secret”™ was discovered and the child, in the end, was given up to social services.” The original concept might have changed, but the critical elements of teen pregnancy resonated: “Interracial acceptance, teens trying to raise a child, having to give up a baby, dealing with social services ”¦ all those themes were incorporated into the story,” said Harps.Â
A second play, “Grace,” focused on teen suicide. Definitely not happy-go-lucky stories, admitted Harps, but stories are “real and kids can relate to them.” The actors provide the ideas and dialog; Harps commits them to a finished script.
The Haverstraw Youth Theater”™s next endeavor is “Remote Control,” which will see two performances, Oct. 17 and 18. The premise: what happens to a bunch of kids who suddenly lose today”™s technology: no more cell phones, computers, I-pods, television, suddenly realizing they have to connect with each other by talking without the aid of texting or the Internet. “And how many times have we adults wondered, ”˜What happens if someone pulls the plug?”™” said Harps. “Well, this will be from a teen”™s point of view.”
The youth theater”™s director is getting creative in ways to raise funds to keep going. “We”™ve created a Thursday Night Film Café, where we show independent films. The food comes from local Haverstraw restaurants, and we have a kitchen available for our use here. It is one way to help keep our theater going.” Classes and workshops that focus on acting, playwrightng and digital filmmaking also keep doors open.
Harps relies on his music ”“ playing upright bass and giving music lessons ”“ for his bread and butter. And while he”™s not playing the bass, he”™s writing plays, one of which can be seen at Riverspace (www.riverspace.org) Â in Nyack this Saturday, Oct. 11. “The Burning of New York” focuses on a factual but little-known event that takes place during the 1740s in Manhattan. “The play takes place in the courtroom ”“ think Salem witch trials,” said Harps.
Whether he hopes his work will end up on Broadway or in summer stock, Harps isn”™t saying. “I love writing, I love the theater, and I love working with these kids. They”™re an inspiration.”