David Barr III is an American writer and playwright of African descent. Career As an actor, Barr received a Joseph Jefferson Citation for an Actor In A Principal Role for his portrayal of Philip Mbuso in the drama Victims at the Organic Theatre Greenhouse in 1992. In 1994 he was a principal actor in the Chicago Theatre Company production of Pill Hill, which was the recipient of a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Ensemble. Additional acting accolades that David has received include the Best Actor Award from the Association Of Theatre Artists & Friends in 1989 for his portrayal of Creon in the Stage Left production of Antigone. Barr's first full-length play was The Death of the Black Jesus, which premiered at the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. in January 1995. (In the theater's pre-season booklet "21st Season of Plays," the title is given as Betrayal of the Black Jesus.) The success of this play led to an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship (1995) and the Black Theater Alliance Awards. The play was the winner of the National Playwriting Award sponsored by the Unicorn Theatre, and the winner of the Mixed Blood Versus America National Playwriting Contest sponsored by the Mixed Blood Theatre. His adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel A Red Death had its world premiere in September 1997. It won the 1998 Edgar Allan Poe Award, sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America in the Best New Play category. Barr's two-act drama, Black Caesar, was the winner of the 1997 Theodore Ward Contest for Playwriting, sponsored by Chicago's Columbia College. PerformInk, Chicago's entertainment tradepaper, published Black Caesar in October 1999. In January 1999, Barr received his second Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for Playwriting/Screenwriting. His play Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit, based on the life of Marian Anderson, was the winner of the 1999 Unicorn Theatre National Playwriting Award. It opened at the Unicorn Theatre in June 1999 and at Pegasus Players in November 2000. In September 1999, his full-length play The Face of Emmett Till (formerly The State of Mississippi vs Emmett Till) debuted at Pegasus Players. The play was developed with Mrs. Mamie Till Mobley and is based on the life and tragic death of her son Emmett Till and was revived in the fall of 2003, again at Pegasus Players. 2000 To Present Barr is a co-adapter of The Journal of Ordinary Thought, a stage