NJ Actors, Directors and Playwrights Collective

My campaign seeks funding to develop the "New Jersey Actors, Directors and Playwrights Collective. This Collective will aid new upcoming playwrights as well as those established writers in having their plays be seen and heard in variou stages of development. By having staged readings of their works prior to a full scaled production will enable the writer to tweak and clarify their works. Rehearsed and directed readings of new plays will be presented each week using actors in the Collective and then critiqued by the members of the Collective and by that week’s Moderator. It is a supportive, constructive environment, encouraging playwrights and director's to develop their creative voice. I am presently with the Actors Studio Playwrights Division in New York City. My website has my full bio and information about my plays. Looking forward in succeeding my goals. www.leroy-barry-playwright.com

MY PLAYS: My whole life has known war. Wars come and go but silently leave remnants of their existence indelibly in one's unconscious. My experience as a veteran during the Vietnam War left questions of why we are always in some state of war. Wars that seem to have no purpose. And then the lingering question...who fights those wars? Not the political hierarchy whose power controls their existence but the common man...the little citizens, young men and women who do the dirty work while the others reap the rewards of their war decisions from afar.

Many monuments glorify their efforts...rightly so, but never really express the pain endured. I see it as it is and will not give those who paid the price a glorified spiritual representation but a realistic one. They were the common man with their flaws, guilt, frustrations as well as their insecurities in a difficult and at times an unjust world. It is our respect they should be given and our understanding of their silent pain. Having taken an oath and find out later that their effort for country was in vain is an unconscionable crime placed on the shoulders of those who knew. Those precious lives were lost...memorialized forever. A voice needs to bellow such mistakes that were for political or personal gain. "To war or not to war?" That's the real question!

My plays are about just that. The inequities of war! Boys lost to never be heard or enjoyed. Men overpowered by rank and hubristic greed. Power given to some without a conscience. Those who seek career over reason. Still I find humor living abundantly in war. Some see the folly of war and comment while others silently keep within the incomprehensible sorrow they feel. May they all rest in peace.

Funds received will be used only for the goals of the collective. Any profit made will be put into the development fund to further our promise to its members...to bring to life their creative expression. Thank you for your contribution! Our promise is to keep you updated with the progress made here at The Actors, Directors and Playwrights Collective. Again thank you!