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 co-founder of the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival was Philip Dorian, now known as one of the leading theatre critics in the state with the website www.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 actor with Barry for five years and directed several productions with the Intern Company as well. "Paul's knowledge of all the Shakespeare plays truly made him a Shakespeare scholar. His book, 'A Lifetime of Shakespeare' proves it. I'm happy that a photo of me was selected for the cover. That's me as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, (in the middle) along with Annie Stafford , Dane Knell, Zeke Zaccaro.
"Paul Barry was such an important part of my life," continued Steelman. "I spent five seasons in Madison exploring Shakespeare and so many other classics. Working in rotating rep was a fabulous training ground. What an opportunity to do great plays! I used to meet so many actors in New York who worked for Paul. Almost everyone I ever met back then had worked for Paul. I think that's the point. Over 25 years as Artistic Director of NJSF, Paul hired hundreds and hundreds of actors. He gave us so much work. . .not to mention weeks toward our unemployment. That's the life of an actor. But wait, here's the coda: Paul told me personally that he could never have run the Shakespeare Festival without his wife, Ellen Barry."
Dorian recalled a letter from then-Governor Jim Florio to Paul and Ellen Barry upon the end of their 28 years as producers of the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival in which it was noted that "a state, much like a family, must be nourished in order to thrive. Not the least of its needs is cultural energy." Florio went on to praise Paul as "a precious source of fuel for that energy."
The only thing that surpassed Barry's passion for theatre was his passion for Shakespeare himself said Dorian. "He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the works - their sources, their histories, their staging requirements and more. He also had strong opinions about production values - opinions sometimes at odds with mine (I'm a theater critic), but always worthy of consideration.
"I will remember Paul as a dear, loyal and constant friend who expressed his affection openly and inspired me to do the same. And I shall always be grateful to him for instilling in me my love of Shakespeare, an important aspect of my life that he influenced both directly and by osmosis. I loved him dearly."
An official statement by the theatre read, "The Shakespeare Theatre came into being because of Paul Barry and Phil Dorian's vision. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Barry's family and to all those who knew and worked with him."
