FEATURED ARTISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS
Christina Harley
Playwright Christina Harley Performs “The Dreamers.”
Christina Harley is a proud Bruin and a graduate of UCLA’s Theater Arts program. She was very active in the African Student Union at UCLA where she co-wrote, co-produced, and performed in the program “Ebony Suite: A Tribute To Black Music and Dance.”
After graduation, Christina began writing and performing with a sketch comedy group called “Black Women In Comedy” which performed at the Tsunami Theater in Los Feliz, California.
Soon after her work with BWIC, Christina wrote her full-length play, “The Dreamers:Resurrection City,” which centers on an African-American family in a small community on the outskirts of Memphis Tennessee, and begins on April 4, 1968, the day Dr. King is assassinated. Each character of this multi-ethnic cast is confronted with the ugly residue of racism and bigotry, as well as their own debilitating personal demons. However, with identifying the “Dream” for themselves that Dr. King, Cesar Chavez, and Rabbi Heschel so embraced, the citizens in the community discover how to set themselves and each other free, and joyfully go forward with their lives.
“The Dreamers” was completed in the Wordsmiths Playwrights Workshop at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, and was selected by the Fountain Theater for their program, “No Ordinary Flowers-A Festival Of Readings,” celebrating works written by African- American women. “The Dreamers” was then produced through a grant presented by the City of Inglewood. The Dreamers was later produced at the Chicago ETA Theater Arts Foundation, which ran concurrently at Los Angeles’ Zephyr Theater. The LP production starred Emmy Award winning Glynn Turman, Vanessa Bell Calloway, and Art Evans.
The LA production was also presented as a special event of “A Season For Non- Violence,” a yearly festival that recognizes the contributions of artists in the Los Angeles Community that emulate the messages of both Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi.
Chicago’s Black Theater Alliance honored “The Dreamers” with a total of eleven nominations, and presented it with the Ira Aldridge Play of the Year Award, and Christina with the Lorraine Hansberry Best Writing of an Original Play Award. “The Dreamers” is published by Smith & Krause Publishers of New York.
A staged reading of “The Dreamers” was presented at the Screen Actors Guild Foundation that starred Glynn Turman and Loretta Devine and was directed by Bill Duke.
On August 29, 2020, the City of Culver City presented a reading of of the play on Culver City TV to commemorate Dr. King’s March on Washington. Dr. Daniel Lee, City Council Member of the City of Culver City” narrated the reading as well as facilitated the panel discussion.
In addition to being a playwright, Christina also won a fellowship to the USC Guy Hanks Screenwriting Program where she completed her comedy ”Graduating Fifth Grade.” A staged reading of the script was performed at the Writer’s Guild of America in Los Angeles, which was directed by Debbie Allen. Ms. Allen also directed a reading of “Graduating Fifth Grade” at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy that starred Tracee Ellis Ross, Jenifer Lewis, Dawnn Lewis, and Ted Lange. “Graduating Fifth Grade” was later optioned by Emmy Award-Winner Taraji. P Henson.
In addition to “The Dreamers” and “Graduating Fifth Grade,” Christina’s other works include screenplays: “The Dreamers Movie,” “Jesus Who?,” “Plight of the BBW,” and “Her Name Was Lola.” Plays include “Yield Not,” “Eves,” “The Couch,” and “Tina Bug – A One Woman Show.”