PORTRAIT OF THE ART WORLD 'COLLECTION' FRAMES MUSEUM POLITICS, RACE DEBATE.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

A PROUD, INTELLIGENT man with a Gibraltar-size chip on his shoulder is a dangerous adversary. So, too, is a man who is cut off from what he values most, particularly under highly inflammatory circumstances.

There are actually so many different ways to delve into Thomas Gibbons' ``Permanent Collection'' that it's tricky to find the ideal entry point. The play delves into questions of art and race, certainly, but also into issues of character, responsibility and judgment. At the Kirk Douglas Theatre, where the Robey Theatre Company's production of ``Collection'' is being remounted after an earlier staging at the Greenway Court, director Dwain Perry allows the ideas to take wing. His cast and his staging also serve up a crackling good story.

The art world serves as the backdrop for Gibbons' eternally topical play, but really you don't need to know your Cezannes from your fertility idols to get a charge out of what's taking place here. It's the rare work of drama that remains compelling even when characters turn into mouthpieces for opposing sides of a debate. But at the Douglas, the clash between Sterling North and Paul Barrow remains a debate among real human beings as well as a high- stakes philosophical melee.

Inspired by events that took place at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, ``Collection'' opens during a changing of the guard. The directorship of a major art institute (here titled the Morris Foundation) has passed into the hands of a new and potentially controversial administrator. Sterling North (played by Robey co-founder Ben Guillory) - a former communications VP - has been selected by the African-American university trustees, who make decisions at the instruction of the late Dr. Morris' will.

Morris (played in apparition form by Kent Minault) was an art establishment-hating eccentric millionaire who enjoyed making waves. He also collected a ton of Impressionist paintings, nearly all of which are on display at the Morris, while equally important African artifacts remain in the museum's storage vaults.

North's proposal to integrate a handful of artifacts into the Morris' permanent collection flies in the face of not only Dr. Morris' will (which dictates everything stays as is) but in that of education director Paul Barrow (Doug Cox) who won't stand idly by to witness Morris being branded a racist, or himself as one either.

A savvy journalist (Kiersten Morgan) with a nose for local scandal asks the right questions and prints the correct answers. The race card is played and match meets dynamite.

``Put yourself in my place,'' is a popular opening directive to a monologue delivered by either Sterling or Paul. Both characters are better at asking than obliging. Both men have strong arguments, and both are just as often dead wrong. It could be argued that Paul evolves, while Sterling remains the imperiously stubborn man he was when he first walked through the Morris doors.

Guillory and Cox essentially pass the task of carrying the production back and forth between them easily. Both actors are riveting in entirely different ways. Cox's Paul Barrow is a largely unassuming man who knows art, and learns a thing or two about advocacy - and how to mix it up.

In the wrong hands, Sterling North - clearly the hero of the piece - could easily come off as a self-righteous, insult-seeking jerk. Guillory, possessed of an unusually musical voice, makes the man a thinker as well as a person who has to relearn a painful truth he already knew. Guillory also wears the sharpest of Naila Aladdin-Sanders' costumes.

The Douglas' production values likely trump what was available at the Greenway Court last year. On James Eric and Victoria Bellocq's set, the vestibule of the Morris Foundation is a comfortable and inviting museum lobby crammed floor to ceiling with masterpieces. A few of these paintings even prove to be transparent, permitting actors to stand behind them and become bathed in Ian Garrett's ethereal lighting.

The Robey Theatre Company doesn't produce often. Kudos, therefore, to Center Theatre Group for giving the company - and Gibbons' fascinating play - a lengthier and more celebratory exhibition.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

PERMANENT COLLECTION - Three and one half stars

Where: Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through Feb. 12

Tickets: $20 to $40. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: An art museum's collection is a flash point for a fascinating debate about race and responsibility.

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Photo:

Philosophies clash when Sterling North (Bennet Guillory, left) and Paul Barrow (Doug Cox) come face to face in a scene from ``Permanent Collection,'' inspired by events that took place at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.