New Jersey
Theatre Loses
A True
Pioneer
The New Jersey Theatre community lost a valuable member last
month. Paul Barry, who co-founded the New Jersey Shakespeare
Festival in 1963 (now known as
the Shakespeare Theatre of New
Jersey) passed away on September 11th at 83 from throat cancer.
Throughout his career, he directed
over 200 plays for the company
and was the first American director
to stage the entire canon of Shakespeare’s thirty-eight plays.
Barry’s Associate Producer and cofounder of the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival was Philip Dorian,
now known as one of the leading
theatre critics in the state with the
New Jersey Stage
website sceneonstage.com.
“Much of what I accomplished
in those roles was at Paul’s direction,” recalled Dorian. “The Festival
had been his dream for years; I was
privileged to share in its realization.
After several years, I left to pursue
other opportunities, and Ellen Reiss
Barry became Paul’s professional
and personal partner.”
Ron Steelman worked as an ac-
October 2014
pg 94