A HOUSE WITH
NO WALLS

CHICAGO PREMIERE
by Thomas Gibbons
directed by Louis Contey

NOVEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 21, 2008
previews 10/29 - 10/31

Back to 2008-09 Season Announcement ...

From the author of Bee-Luther-Hatchee and Permanent Collection comes this inspired-by-real-life drama about two African-Americans on opposite sides of a profound debate. Philadelphia wants to build its new American Museum of Liberty on the grounds of George Washington's Philadelphia home and slave quarters. Soon a rising academic star who has just published a startlingly conservative book and a liberal Afrocentric political activist are confronting each other with polarizing questions of African-American legacy and identity. Elegantly juxtaposed with this fictionalized present-day conflict is the true story of one of Washington's slaves as she contemplates escape. The result is a thought-provoking drama that asks vital questions about where we’ve been and where we go next.

“This is a provocative and innovative play that addresses not only race relations in this country, but also the challenges that come from trying to even discuss race relations,” Powers said. “Honestly, it’s not a conversation we’ve had enough at TimeLine, and we’re very much looking forward to engaging in that dialogue with this production.”

Thomas Gibbons (Playwright) is playwright-in-residence at InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia, which has produced six of his plays: Pretending to America, 6221, Axis Sally, Black Russian, Bee-luther-hatchee and Permanent Collection. His plays have been seen at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, Blue Heron Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Actors Express, Florida Stage, Unicorn Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Center Stage and others. He is the recipient of six playwriting fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a Roger L. Stevens Award from the Fund for New American Plays, a Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award, two Barrymore Awards for outstanding new play, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

Louis Contey (Director) is an associate artist at TimeLine. He received a Joseph Jefferson Citation for Outstanding Direction of Awake and Sing! and a Jeff Citation nomination for It’s All True, both at TimeLine. Other TimeLine productions include Paradise Lost, The General from America, Pravda and Copenhagen. He has directed more than 60 plays, among them Requiem for a Heavyweight, A View from the Bridge, A Streetcar Named Desire, All My Sons, Rocket to the Moon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Judgment at Nuremberg, Meet John Doe, Boys Next Door and Marriage Play. He is an 11-time Joseph Jefferson nominee and has received seven Joseph Jefferson Citations. He has worked at The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Theatre at the Center, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Shattered Globe Theatre, Provision Theatre, Eclipse Theatre and American Theater Company, among others. He received his M.F.A. in directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University, where he is currently an adjunct instructor.