Barbara Neri
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Barbara Neri Is a 2021 Academy Nicholl quarter-finalist screenwriter. She was born in South Bend, Indiana the home of Sydney Pollack. Barbara began her creative life as a ballet dancer and one of her childhood dance teachers was Pollack's sister Sharon. But perhaps it is being a skeleton in the closet of Sir James Barrie the author of "Peter Pan" (on her English mother's side) that explains Barbara Neri's love of storytelling. Neri is a published and produced playwright, writer, scholar and an award winning screenwriter. She has a trilogy of feature length diverse love stories in development: "Sonnets from the Portuguese", '"The Forgotten Front", and currently in pre-production is "Unlocking Desire".
Neri's feature length screenplay "Sonnets from the Portuguese" vividly re-envisions Victorian poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning's famous love story for contemporary audiences. The title comes from poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning's enduring and popular forty-four love sonnets (Sonnets from the Portuguese) that she was secretly writing as her love deepened. Neri calls the Browning's romance "the most powerfully romantic love story of all time." The romance was the subject matter of two previous films produced in 1934 and 1957 based upon Rudolf Besier's 1930 play "The Barretts of Wimpole Street." Neri's retelling of the romance is based on her original archival and published research, and will bring the story into new light and contemporary relevance for today's audiences. Neri is quoted as saying: "This version of the Browning's romance, that portrayed Elizabeth as persecuted by her villainous father and rescued by Robert Browning, served a purpose in the 1930s and 1940s. But there is a truer more complex story that is far more relevant to us today." Neri's screenplay scored in the top 15% of all entries in the 2022 Academy Nicholl Fellowship Competition. An earlier draft was quarter-finalist in the 2016 CineStory Fellowship Competition.
Neri's book, "Poets in Love," about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her love sonnets will tie into the film when it is produced. Neri is recognized for her groundbreaking, published research on Barrett Browning's forty-four "Sonnets from the Portuguese." Neri is associate Editor of "The Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning," an historic five-volume edition of Barrett Browning's complete works published by London's renowned 'Pickering & Chatto' in 2010. Neri is internationally recognized for "The Elizabeth Barrett Browning Project," a synergy of creative and critical processes. She authored, produced and performed the multimedia theater piece "The Consolation of Poetry" in which she became Elizabeth. The University of Michigan Center for the Education of Women in Ann Arbor, Michigan premiered Neri's performance in 2002 as part of a campus wide semester on Gender, Power and Representation. The script was published in 'The Drama Review' (Fall 2003) and the issue sold out. "The Consolation of Poetry" had its NY premiere in 2005 when it was juried into the NY International Fringe Festival. The NY performance was filmed, edited and available on DVD. The costume reproductions of Barrett Browning's 1858 and 1860 images, that Neri researched and recreated with artisans and wore in the performance, will become part of the permanent collection of The Armstrong Browning Library in Texas, one of the largest collections of Browning materials in the world. Ms. Neri has been a Research Fellow at the library twice.
Neri's play, "Unlocking Desire," sprang from her imaginative exploration of Tennessee Williams allusion to Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 'Scene 3' of his masterpiece "A Streetcar Named Desire." Neri's play was produced by Khoros Inc., and premiered in Detroit in 2011, the centennial of Williams' birth. In Neri's play, an institutionalized woman claims to be Blanche DuBois, but all is not as it seems. Neri's screen adaptation of "Unlocking Desire" was quarter-finalist in the CineStory Foundation 2017 Fellowship Competition. "Unlocking Desire" was awarded 'Best Screenplay' in the 2017 Marfa Film Festival screenplay competition and was read during the festival by stellar actors from across Texas. Neri's wellspring of research was published in the 2018 issue of "The Tennessee Williams Annual Review." An unpublished poem, "Kicks" by Williams dated 1976, that Neri discovered in The Williams Research Center of The Historic New Orleans Collection, was published in the 2021 issue of "The Tennessee Williams Annual Review." "Unlocking Desire" is now in pre-production with Neri on board as director.
Neri's latest screenplay, "The Forgotten Front," tells the true story of American actor Katharine Cornell's World War II, U.S.O. tour of Italy with a troupe of actors performing her signature role of Elizabeth Barrett in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" for G.I.s and Allied troops fighting there during WW II. The screenplay is a 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellowship quarter-finalist. "The Forgotten Front" unveils an LGBTQ+ romance and remembers a front that must never be forgotten. Neri is quoted as saying "It was a huge undertaking to research World War II Italy and Katharine Cornell's extraordinary U.S.O. tour, but I was inspired by the passion and noble sacrifice of these brave men and women. I believe theater audiences will be, too!"
Barbara Neri's earlier work as a dancer and choreographer was funded by the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. From 1980 till 1993 Neri artistic directed her own company of dancers, collaborating with visual, sound and video artists to create and perform multimedia works. Neri returned to solo work in 1993 and produced, performed and exhibited works of performance art, installation and visual art. Neri's choreographic and performance art works were filmed and produced for video and DVD with Neri collaborating in the production process and editing. Neri most recently studied popular dances of the mid-Victorian era to bring authentic detail to one of her screenplays. Her work in the mediums of dance, performance art and visual art can be explored at her website.
Neri's feature length screenplay "Sonnets from the Portuguese" vividly re-envisions Victorian poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning's famous love story for contemporary audiences. The title comes from poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning's enduring and popular forty-four love sonnets (Sonnets from the Portuguese) that she was secretly writing as her love deepened. Neri calls the Browning's romance "the most powerfully romantic love story of all time." The romance was the subject matter of two previous films produced in 1934 and 1957 based upon Rudolf Besier's 1930 play "The Barretts of Wimpole Street." Neri's retelling of the romance is based on her original archival and published research, and will bring the story into new light and contemporary relevance for today's audiences. Neri is quoted as saying: "This version of the Browning's romance, that portrayed Elizabeth as persecuted by her villainous father and rescued by Robert Browning, served a purpose in the 1930s and 1940s. But there is a truer more complex story that is far more relevant to us today." Neri's screenplay scored in the top 15% of all entries in the 2022 Academy Nicholl Fellowship Competition. An earlier draft was quarter-finalist in the 2016 CineStory Fellowship Competition.
Neri's book, "Poets in Love," about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her love sonnets will tie into the film when it is produced. Neri is recognized for her groundbreaking, published research on Barrett Browning's forty-four "Sonnets from the Portuguese." Neri is associate Editor of "The Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning," an historic five-volume edition of Barrett Browning's complete works published by London's renowned 'Pickering & Chatto' in 2010. Neri is internationally recognized for "The Elizabeth Barrett Browning Project," a synergy of creative and critical processes. She authored, produced and performed the multimedia theater piece "The Consolation of Poetry" in which she became Elizabeth. The University of Michigan Center for the Education of Women in Ann Arbor, Michigan premiered Neri's performance in 2002 as part of a campus wide semester on Gender, Power and Representation. The script was published in 'The Drama Review' (Fall 2003) and the issue sold out. "The Consolation of Poetry" had its NY premiere in 2005 when it was juried into the NY International Fringe Festival. The NY performance was filmed, edited and available on DVD. The costume reproductions of Barrett Browning's 1858 and 1860 images, that Neri researched and recreated with artisans and wore in the performance, will become part of the permanent collection of The Armstrong Browning Library in Texas, one of the largest collections of Browning materials in the world. Ms. Neri has been a Research Fellow at the library twice.
Neri's play, "Unlocking Desire," sprang from her imaginative exploration of Tennessee Williams allusion to Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 'Scene 3' of his masterpiece "A Streetcar Named Desire." Neri's play was produced by Khoros Inc., and premiered in Detroit in 2011, the centennial of Williams' birth. In Neri's play, an institutionalized woman claims to be Blanche DuBois, but all is not as it seems. Neri's screen adaptation of "Unlocking Desire" was quarter-finalist in the CineStory Foundation 2017 Fellowship Competition. "Unlocking Desire" was awarded 'Best Screenplay' in the 2017 Marfa Film Festival screenplay competition and was read during the festival by stellar actors from across Texas. Neri's wellspring of research was published in the 2018 issue of "The Tennessee Williams Annual Review." An unpublished poem, "Kicks" by Williams dated 1976, that Neri discovered in The Williams Research Center of The Historic New Orleans Collection, was published in the 2021 issue of "The Tennessee Williams Annual Review." "Unlocking Desire" is now in pre-production with Neri on board as director.
Neri's latest screenplay, "The Forgotten Front," tells the true story of American actor Katharine Cornell's World War II, U.S.O. tour of Italy with a troupe of actors performing her signature role of Elizabeth Barrett in "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" for G.I.s and Allied troops fighting there during WW II. The screenplay is a 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellowship quarter-finalist. "The Forgotten Front" unveils an LGBTQ+ romance and remembers a front that must never be forgotten. Neri is quoted as saying "It was a huge undertaking to research World War II Italy and Katharine Cornell's extraordinary U.S.O. tour, but I was inspired by the passion and noble sacrifice of these brave men and women. I believe theater audiences will be, too!"
Barbara Neri's earlier work as a dancer and choreographer was funded by the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. From 1980 till 1993 Neri artistic directed her own company of dancers, collaborating with visual, sound and video artists to create and perform multimedia works. Neri returned to solo work in 1993 and produced, performed and exhibited works of performance art, installation and visual art. Neri's choreographic and performance art works were filmed and produced for video and DVD with Neri collaborating in the production process and editing. Neri most recently studied popular dances of the mid-Victorian era to bring authentic detail to one of her screenplays. Her work in the mediums of dance, performance art and visual art can be explored at her website.