The Village Revival Project

The Village Revival Project A Transformative Justice initiative reviving the collective heartbeat of community through art.

Going on 3 years (in public) in July. Honored and proud to contribute THIS mission to the community-based healing ecosys...
05/27/2026

Going on 3 years (in public) in July. Honored and proud to contribute THIS mission to the community-based healing ecosystem ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

My name is Alia Berry and as the Founder of VRP, I am a playwright.
05/27/2026

My name is Alia Berry and as the Founder of VRP, I am a playwright.

05/16/2026

Summary about our first PLAY!!! We have a few free tickets if you’re available tomorrow at 3pm 🩷🥳

Last weekend, I went to support one of my colleague’s plays at The Garden State New Play Festival and it was AMAZING to ...
05/14/2026

Last weekend, I went to support one of my colleague’s plays at The Garden State New Play Festival and it was AMAZING to see what life they brought through a Stage Reading 😳 Made me even more excited for MY PLAY!!! That said, the countdown has begun and it’s the last call for buying tickets…

🔺 May 17, 2026 at 3pm

🔺 Link to Purchase Tickets 👉🏼 jctcenter.org

🔺 Location: 337 Newark Ave, Jersey City

✍🏽✍🏾✍🏼 “Unseen in Plain Sight” written by Alia Berry centers two boys from the same neighborhood whose lives take very different paths, shaped by their choices, environment and support systems. Alongside them are their mothers, each navigating love, fear and survival in their own way.

When a murder shakes the neighborhood, tensions rise and the community becomes filled with judgment, blame and misunderstanding. People talk around each other rather than to each other, revealing deep disconnection. As the story unfolds, moments of honesty and vulnerability begin to break through, allowing characters to confront their assumptions and truly see one another.

Ultimately, the play explores how empathy, accountability and shared humanity can transform division into connection, highlighting the intentional work required to build real social cohesion in a community.

🔻🔻 Note: The Garden State New Play Festival 2026 is produced by (Jersey City Theater Center) in partnership with (NJ Play Lab) and supported by funding through the NJEDA’s A.R.T. – Phase II Grant Program

👏🏼👏🏼✊🏽 The Village Revival Project has finally finished our mission-based play with the support of dynamic dramaturgs an...
05/06/2026

👏🏼👏🏼✊🏽 The Village Revival Project has finally finished our mission-based play with the support of dynamic dramaturgs and directors from The NJ Play Lab. Come and see our Stage Reading at The Garden State New Play Festival!!!!

🔺 May 17, 2026 at 3pm

🔺 Link to Purchase Tickets 👉🏼 https://wl.eventim.us/event/GSNPF-2026-Community-Writers-Short-Plays-Staged-Readings/681586?afflky=JerseyCityTheaterCenter

🔺 Location: 337 Newark Ave, Jersey City

✍🏽✍🏾✍🏼 “Unseen in Plain Sight” written by Alia Berry centers two boys from the same neighborhood whose lives take very different paths, shaped by their choices, environment and support systems. Alongside them are their mothers, each navigating love, fear and survival in their own way.

When a murder shakes the neighborhood, tensions rise and the community becomes filled with judgment, blame and misunderstanding. People talk around each other rather than to each other, revealing deep disconnection. As the story unfolds, moments of honesty and vulnerability begin to break through, allowing characters to confront their assumptions and truly see one another.

Ultimately, the play explores how empathy, accountability and shared humanity can transform division into connection, highlighting the intentional work required to build real social cohesion in a community.

🔻🔻 Note: The Garden State New Play Festival 2026 is produced by (Jersey City Theater Center) in partnership with (NJ Play Lab) and supported by funding through the NJEDA’s A.R.T. – Phase II Grant Program

The Village Revival Project never takes the community’s trust for granted. This is why facilitating a resident-requested...
04/23/2026

The Village Revival Project never takes the community’s trust for granted. This is why facilitating a resident-requested Healing Circle in a neighborhood where a murder took place is emotionally sacred ground.

From 2009 to 2014– city activists were taking the streets on blocks where murder took place for 155 consecutive weeks— never business as usual.

Now a variety of teams do community walks and pass out resources in these areas.

While community gun violence persists (although at historic lows), it’s also critical to have therapeutic space to build together, feel together and heal together So VRP is honored to offer place-based circles in an effort to REVIVE one neighborhood at a time.

Shout out to Newark Community Street Team’s Public Safety Roundtable which gave the mighty elder Ms Sharon a platform to report that her South Ward neighbors were not ok after an incident took place a few weeks ago. This allowed The Village Revival Project to answer the call with the support of NCST’s community walk distributing flyers and opening their doors for space.

Special shout out to one of the neighborhood leaders, Ms Ali, who was centered in the planning but was held in the facilitation❤️✊🏽

This is what treating violence as a public health issue looks like— holistically within an ecosystem!! Boots on the ground. Literally.

Proud of our progress as a city.

Art is a global and universal healing modality across the diaspora!! After a recent trip to Saint Croix, it was the “Rev...
04/08/2026

Art is a global and universal healing modality across the diaspora!! After a recent trip to Saint Croix, it was the “Revival” of community theater, young adult painting and youth arts education that followed me…

🌸🌺 Shout out to an emerging artist Chalinda!! This young person was such a breath of fresh air…so determined, smart, ambitious, creative, an eager learner, excited about life and seeing the good in the world. She just started her lip gloss business and paints despite struggling with perfectionism (as many artists do!) I was honored she chose me to steward her art and am rooting for her future of all the “hibiscuses” life brings her 😏 (insider)

👉🏼 Follow her .chas.cute.creations

🎨 Shout out to Frandelle Gerard, Executive Director of CHANT (Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism) who hosts Youth Art Month held at the CHANT Cultural Arts Center in Frederiksted where they work with students and teachers in schools to maintain arts education!! I could feel the power in the room, the mobilization of community and the leadership of this sister. This exhibit was very inspiring in my VRP belly too 😍✊🏽

👉🏼 Follow them and consider donating to this movement.

🎭 Shout out to Saint Croix’s Community Theater who engages volunteer actors— some who have never been exposed to theater before!! While currently writing my own play rooted in The Village Revival Project paradigm, it’s hard to unsee certain things now…set design tricks, script nuances, blocking etc!!

Our 2026 Q1 Board Meeting, led by our dynamic Board Chair Solomon Middleton-Williams, reminded us that strong teams don’...
03/18/2026

Our 2026 Q1 Board Meeting, led by our dynamic Board Chair Solomon Middleton-Williams, reminded us that strong teams don’t just happen- they’re built through intention, understanding and collaboration between servant leaders who deeply care about the mission at hand.

The Village Revival Project kicked off the year with multifaceted, innovative strategy that is coming to life as we transition into Q2

Some say the Village is too fractured to repair but our movement, led by this powerful board, KNOWS better and believes in the power of REVIVAL 🤍✊🏽

for Revival 🕊️
03/14/2026

for Revival 🕊️

On March 25, 2025 after I played “a therapist” in a play about grieving moms I was so inspired that I posted “Like t...
03/11/2026

On March 25, 2025 after I played “a therapist” in a play about grieving moms I was so inspired that I posted “Like this status if you’d like to see a VRP play?” 🎭✨

And then this opportunity to be 1 of 3 community writers fell from the sky 😳🥹 Even though I’m a writer, a storyteller and a theater kid- I never wrote a play. But the way this story is unfolding (with the support of a super dope dramaturg and theater-based social justice organizer) you don’t wanna miss it!!

Mark your calendars 🗓️ and get in the building.

hits the stage…to revive the collective heartbeat of our Village!!

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Newark, NJ

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