House, Divided
 La Tempestad
 The Ballad of John Wesley Reed
 Girl Science
 The Allure of Oriental Wisdom
 Memorial Day (formerly Varia)
 Pride of the Lion
 The Dostoyevsky Man


 Monica for Chanukah
 Angie and Arnie Sanguine
 Edward and Ellie Supine
 The Lion Eats His Lunch
 The Lion in His Lair
 The Lion Leaves His Mark
 Prayers


 But Who's Counting?
 Emma Goldman Imagines the Millenium


 Just Before the War Between the Plates
 I Can Handle That


 Talking  with Lee Blessing

...with Tom Coash
...with Mary Fengar Gail
...with Richard Kalinowsky
...with Jamie Pachino
...with David Rambo
...with Jason Sherman
...with Naomi Wallace
...with Tom Gibbons
...with Dick Goldberg

InterAct: PERMANENT COLLECTION continues your interest in and concern about our national racial dialogue. Bee-Luther-Hatchee, your last play, has been widely performed around the country, and as a result you have gotten some fairly intense responses to being a white man writing about black characters and issues. Can you talk about some of those responses?

Tom Gibbons: They've run the gamut from shock to mystification to outrage. In Minneapolis an African-American actress in the play did a hilarious double-take upon meeting me. I've done talkbacks in which white audience members have strongly objected to a white person writing about African-American characters, while black people sitting next to them have defended me. Other times the reaction has been exactly the opposite. Since the play is about that very issue, I'm gratified either way. But I don't think of any issues as "black issues." To me they're American issues, with which the characters in my plays-both black and white-contend.

InterAct: If you look at the national press, there seems to have been a shift in our political/cultural focus since 9/11, and relations between blacks and whites seem to have fallen off the table somewhat as issues for discussion, replaced by discussions about international politics and the menace of terrorism. Is that your sense of things? Do you think the shared 9/11 tragedy has permanently unified us across racial lines as Americans as some pundits contend?

Tom Gibbons: The 9/11 tragedy has shifted our attention, certainly, but I don't think our racial divisions have been bridged. Look at the recent furor over affirmative action in college admissions. Some people seem to think that our national dialogue over race should be declared over. I feel it's barely begun.

InterAct: PERMANENT COLLECTION is a fictionalized story set in a Barnes Foundation-like institution. 6221, your other locally set play (about the MOVE bombing) was rigorously fact based and historically accurate, essentially a theatrical documentary. What made you decided fictionalize this story when so many of the issues of race and power seem to be present in the actual story?

Tom Gibbons: The controversy at the Barnes was over its proposal to build a parking lot. Although I felt that a potential play existed in the Barnes controversy, I didn't want to spend two years writing about a parking lot, so I invented a conflict that would allow me to address issues of race, identity, and representation. The question that interested me most was: Who decides what hangs on a museum wall, and on what basis do they make their decision? I invented the central conflict of the play to explore that question. With 6221, the events themselves were exactly what I wanted to write about. Bee-Luther-Hatchee explored those issues in the literary world; PERMANENT COLLECTION uses the perspective of the art world.

InterAct: Are you worried that PERMANENT COLLECTION will be taken as a historical account of the Barnes Foundation turmoil?

Tom Gibbons: I hope the play isn't taken as a historical account. Although it's inspired by actual events, the central conflict is my own invention. I've changed the name to the Morris Foundation, and I've invented all the characters. (Okay, not Dr. Morris). At the same time, I've utilized-without apology-certain details about the Barnes Foundation's history and collection. Because of its singular vision, which really inspired my own imagination, the place is a gift to any writer.

InterAct:I know you have developed a respect for Albert Barnes and his progressive, if cranky, ideas about art and institutions. What have you found to be compelling about him? What's your favorite story about him?

Tom Gibbons: Any writer appreciates a vivid character, and Barnes is as vivid as they come. One of my favorite stories-which I've used in the play-is that Barnes met another collector on a ship sailing to Paris. The collector mentioned that he was going to buy a certain painting upon his arrival. Barnes radioed the dealer from the ship and bought the painting himself. I also like his trick of signing his dog's name to some of his more abusive letters.

InterAct: Let's talk about art. In PERMANENT COLLECTION you make the point that art movements at various times have swept away the preceding era's paradigms and taught us how to see anew. Do you believe that the idea that art changes perception applies to social mores?

Tom Gibbons: It fascinates me that the Impressionist and post-Impressionist painters, now universally popular (the coffee mugs and screen savers of our age), were the scandal of their own time. Obviously, the way the world sees has changed; did they lead that change or simply reflect it?

InterAct: You spent a fair amount of time visiting the actual Barnes in Lower Merion in preparation for writing PERMANENT COLLECTION. What are your favorite pieces? Is Paul's art talk in the play really Tom Gibbons talking?

Tom Gibbons: I'm partial to Cézanne, like the character Paul Barrow, but I deny that Paul is my mouthpiece. I'm partial to his portraits, which demonstrate a startling psychological acuity. I can't claim any special knowledge of art (although my wife is a painter and I've learned a lot from her). The art talk in the play is really a matter of dramatic necessity: people in a museum are going to talk about paintings, just as people in a restaurant talk about food. I just tried to make it as interesting as I could.

InterAct: One last questions about the actual Barnes Foundation. What's your feeling about the various responses to the idea of moving the Barnes to town?

Tom Gibbons: I think there's a lot of dishonesty in this debate. The city of Philadelphia wants tourist dollars; the question of what's best for the art is irrelevant. Those who argue that Barnes' wishes must be respected because he bought the paintings care primarily about ownership rights; the art, again, is irrelevant. Personally, I am torn. It has to be acknowledged that Barnes himself would have fought such a move. On the other hand, putting the collection downtown would allow the paintings to be seen by more people-and ultimately, paintings exist to be seen, don't they, just as plays exist to be staged?

InterAct: You wrote PERMANENT COLLECTION with some of our actual cast members in mind. Tim Moyer, Frank X, and Maureen Torsney-Weir are all regulars on the InterAct stage and in your plays. How does having specific actors in mind when you write impact on the creation of your plays?

Tom Gibbons: This play began with an image in my mind of Frank X wearing an expensive Italian suit as he says, "Put yourself in my place." (My play BLACK RUSSIAN originated with an image of Frank speaking with a Russian accent.) This is the third time I've written parts for specific actors, and it's a tremendous shortcut. Knowing their tones, their gestures, even their particular method of being silent, gives me a base on which to build the characters. Also, it's a way of making sure I get the actors I want. Who can turn down a part written specially for you?

InterAct: Can you talk about the state of American theater? You have the good fortune to be the resident playwright at a theater that is committed to your work, and you have seen one of your plays produced very widely. But your back list is rarely if ever produced, and you are represented by one of the best agents in the world. It seems to me that is a reflection of the state of the theater itself, i.e. that we don't really value our best writers, nor support them. Any comments?

Tom Gibbons: I think the state of American theater is schizophrenic. For the most part, the large theatres are doing work that is safe, timid, conservative, and boring. Fortunately, quite a few smaller theatres, like InterAct and the other members of the National New Play Network, are doing challenging, adventurous work. It all comes down to economics. Large theatres are cripplingly dependent on corporate sponsorship, and corporations do not support plays that are controversial or that might be perceived as offensive. As for myself, I've learned the lesson all American playwrights learn: If you want your plays to have any chance of being produced, keep your cast size e trick is to keep the ideas large.

InterAct: What's ahead for you, Tom. I know there are other productions of Permanent Collection planned, and the Bee-Luther-Hatchee is still going strong. Are you on to something new?

Tom Gibbons: Another production of PERMANENT COLLECTION will be done by Florida Stage in the spring, so I'll continue to work on the script. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I have a play in mind based on another recent controversy in Philadelphia, looking at the issues I mentioned earlier through the lens of history. If I'm still interested in six months, I'll probably write it.

InterAct: Thanks Tom.