By Lewis Loflin
In 2004, Barter Theatre’s production of Liquid Moon—featuring a nude scene—stirred outrage in Abingdon, Virginia. Religious conservatives, led by Rev. Ronald Gilbert of Lebanon Baptist Association, condemned it, while State Sen. Phillip Puckett (D) delayed a $100,000 Virginia Tobacco Commission (VTC) grant in protest (Kingsport Times-News, May 18, 2004). Critics dubbed Puckett a "local Taliban," but I questioned why job-creation funds were underwriting a theater many locals couldn’t afford.
Puckett, a VTC Southwest Virginia Economic Development Committee member, targeted the grant for Stonewall Square—a proposed 2.3-acre retail development across from Barter, promising 75-120 jobs. He stated:
My vote is against the morality of what I have registered my complaint against. —Phillip Puckett, Kingsport Times-News, May 18, 2004
The grant, tied to storm drainage, was released after debate, alongside $100,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission and $50,000 from Abingdon. By 2011, Stonewall Square’s job claims proved hollow—no significant employment emerged.
Later in 2004, U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) announced a $153,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant, including $18,000 for Barter’s The Other Side of the Mountain (Kingsport Times-News, November 28, 2004). The play flopped commercially, adding no lasting community value. Barter’s funding—VTC, NEA, local—highlighted a pattern of subsidies over self-reliance.
The nudity sparked polarized reactions:
Debate fixated on morality, not the $250,000+ in public funds.
Opened June 10, 1933, in Abingdon, Barter Theatre—America’s longest-running professional theater—bartered tickets for food during the Depression, per founder Robert Porterfield. Named Virginia’s State Theatre in 1946, it launched stars like Gregory Peck. By 2025, it attracts 125,000-145,000 visitors yearly (Virginia Living, March 13, 2025), adding $40 million to Abingdon’s economy (2019 VTC estimate)—yet struggles persist.
Barter’s 2004 row foreshadowed ongoing woes—$500,000 loss in 2019 (WJHL, August 24, 2019), 20% budget cuts, and a 16% tourism drop. VTC and NEA aid (e.g., 2023 VCA grant) continue, but ticket sales (64% of $7.6M budget, Roanoke.com, April 10, 2023) lag post-COVID. Support them at www.bartertheatre.com, or ponder the cost to taxpayers.
