More than two decades after pronouncing that greed is good, Gordon Gekko returns to movie screens this fall in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." On TV, "The Office" and "Mad Men" take divergent views of corporate America. And "Enron" the play recently ended a Broadway run.

Business has been big business on stage and screen for years. One of the latest theatrical productions to take a cue from the business world made its debut this weekend at the Fells Point Corner Theatre as part of the 29th annual Baltimore Playwrights Festival. "In the Shadow of Lushan" portrays a fictional company struggling to survive in a global economy.

The playwright, Kathleen Barber, knows quite a bit about business herself. She is vice president of corporate operations for the Fairlawn Tool & Die Co., a metal fabrication business with nearly 60 employees.

Most weekdays, Barber can be found at her desk or walking around the tool and die plant in Hampstead. In her free time, she has written 14 plays, 12 of which have been produced in Baltimore. They've ranged from dramas to a romantic comedy to a play about a "freak show" during the Depression.

"In the Shadow of Lushan" is the third production in a trilogy of plays that Barber has written about the metalworking industry. The play, set in present-day Baltimore, tells the story of Josephine Bannaker, owner of a business that makes tools and other products for the home hobbyist. Her biggest threat comes from a competitor in China.

Barber, 59, said she drew on her experience to write a script that might help illuminate issues many Americans are facing at work, from overseas competition to an influx of immigrant labor to fear of change. Barber took time away from rehearsals recently to talk with The Baltimore Sun.

Question: What is your play about?

Answer: The play is about a woman whose small business feels the impact of all the changes of the global economy. On the day the play starts, her largest customer comes to take action that essentially is going to shut her down. So it's her fight for her business, for her employees' jobs, and how these changes affect everybody in the company.

Q: Is this play based on your own experience as a business owner?

A: Yes and no. It's not my story or my company's story. But I think every manufacturer has been affected by sweeping changes, beginning with competition from overseas. We've seen employees affected in ways we never thought they would be. Jobs disappearing. I've seen that firsthand.

Q: It sounds like a downer.

A: I don't think it is. But it's a drama, and part of what I wanted to grapple with is how to think about changes when they come. It's not enough to say jobs are lost and that's the end of the story, because it's not. There's another day. The play is about how do you fight it? What do you do when changes come to you? How can you cope?

Q: Is there a happy ending?

A: I think so, yes. It's a realistic ending, but I think there is a tomorrow for some of the characters.

Q: You won't leave the theater wanting to give up hope on the American work force?

A: No, I don't think so. I haven't give up hope, and I don't think the characters do. But it's a realistic look at what people go through. I wanted to talk about change. People experience huge changes in their lives, and what the people in this play go through, people can go through because of other reasons — divorce or maybe some injury that changes how they work. I was trying to look at how change affects people. But I don't think we're left thinking that it's hopeless.

Q: What is Lushan?

A: Lushan is a mountain in China. I was looking for a metaphor. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I stumbled upon that, and I found out that it is in an area where there is industry.

Q: Does writing a play help you work through your own business issues?

A: Yes, it does. Writing always helps me to think. It helps me, one, to just be able to look at my options in a different context. You feel hopeless. What does that mean? So I put it in a story. I think I do think better when I write. It's a way of thinking. I don't know if I was working through my issues or not. I know that is not my company on stage. I was very careful about that.

Q: How long have you worked at Fairlawn, and what is your role?

A: I am a co-owner. Second generation. My dad started the company, the best we can figure, in 1954, with one machine. My older brother and I got our work permits when we were 14 and went to work there. After my father died, we were both in our 20s and we took over the business eventually.

Q: How do you find time to juggle these two different worlds? Do you ever sleep?

A: The last week, I haven't been. But I've always worked a lot of hours. I'm a morning person, not a night person. So I would use time Saturday to write. You do it when you have time. They say you should write every day. I've never had the life to allow that, so I manage.

Q: Do your worlds ever collide? Will your employees come to see this play?

A: I don't advertise it to them. A couple of the people with whom I work closely or the senior management, they come to a lot of my plays. Or my office manager may. My employees kind of know about it because I walk through the plant looking for props. But I don't go to my employees or customers or vendors and say, "Come see the play," because it's not fair.

Q: But they know you have this other life?

A: They do. Some know more than others. We have a few posters up at work, from some of the plays. I had a customer, and one of his reps walked in to bring us some work. He looked at one poster, and it had a picture of the star of the show, and it turns out she works with him. It was on the wall. He was astounded. It's a small world.

Q: How does the play end?

A: I don't want to give away the ending. Come see the play and find out.

"In the Shadow of Lushan" opened Friday at the Fells Point Corner Theatre, 251 S. Ann St., $10-$17. Ticket information: fpct.org or 410-276-7837. Performances will continue Thursdays through Sundays until July 18; no shows on July 4 or 8.

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