Plays and stories from four decades of Roadside Theater

Published by New Village Press, 2023

Art in a Democracy: Selected Plays of Roadside Theater tells the story of a rural Appalachian theater company’s 45-year search for a form of artistic expression that advances the project of American democracy.

This 2-volume work includes 9 award-winning original play scripts, a critical recounting of the theater’s history from 1975 through 2020, and 10 essays by authors from different disciplines and generations exploring the plays’ social, economic, and political circumstances.

"Roadside Theater has mustered diverse local folks in declining towns in Appalachia to celebrate their traditions and restore community confidence through dramatization of local stories and music." -Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone

"The impact on Urban Bush Women from our work with Roadside Theater over two decades cannot be overstated. Art in a Democracy unveils the way we can build strong bonds through working, living, and creating art with communities while addressing social inequities. The history embedded in these volumes is priceless."
-Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Founding Artistic Director, Urban Bush Women; 2021 MacArthur Award Fellow; 2022 Gish Prize recipient

Follow the latest from We Own What We Make, a newsletter from Ben Fink, general editor of Art in a Democracy, for stories on how the lessons of the books and the legacy of Roadside Theater’s work are being applied today

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Ben @weownwhatwemake found some treasures in a dear friend’s home yesterday! ✊

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Features

Featured

The Drama Review (TDR): “Art in and for a Democracy”

John O’Neal, 1940-2019, helped build a theater movement that supported voting rights and crossed cultural frontiers. His work is part of a new book featuring the plays of Appalachia’s Roadside Theater. Roadside and O’Neal collaborated for decades on plays that built common ground across race and geography while honoring individual cultural identity. This is A.B. Spellman’s essay on that story, republished in the Daily Yonder.

A.B. Spellman, former deputy chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

SNCC, The Free Southern Theater, Junebug Productions, & John O'Neal

John O’Neal, 1940-2019, helped build a theater movement that supported voting rights and crossed cultural frontiers. His work is part of a new book featuring the plays of Appalachia’s Roadside Theater. Roadside and O’Neal collaborated for decades on plays that built common ground across race and geography while honoring individual cultural identity. This is A.B. Spellman’s essay on that story, republished in the Daily Yonder.

A.B. Spellman, former deputy chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

Ron Short inducted into the Southwest Virginia Walk of Fame

BIG STONE GAP, Va. — The Southwest Virginia Walk of Fame will add 12 new members at the 15th Annual “Gathering in the Gap” Music Festival on May 27.

New inductees include Ron Short, musician, playwright, composer, and performer, from Dickenson County. For more than 35 years, he traveled locally, nationally and internationally with other members of Roadside Theater, telling the stories, performing in the plays and singing the songs of his Appalachian heritage, always with the goal of teaching others to value and share their own stories. His original plays and other work from Roadside Theater have been recently published in a two-volume collection entitled Art in a Democracy for which he also served as an editor. In April of 2023, Ron won the Tennessee Songwriters Competition out of over 1,000 entries. After residing in Big Stone Gap for 38 years, Ron now lives in Duffield, and enjoys playing in his band, Ron Short and the Possum Playboys.

David McGee