Play Details

Ensemble
(Note: Original cast is listed)

Grandfather's Greatest Hits (premiered 1975) playwright: company developed; director: Don Baker; cast: the ensemble, including Don Baker, Angelyn DeBord, Jeff Kaiser, Dudley Wilson, and Jack Wright. Grandfather's Greatest Hits is a lively retelling of classic Appalachian Mountain stories.

Red Fox/Second Hangin' (premiered 1976) playwrights: Don Baker and Dudley Cocke; directors: Don Baker and Dudley Cocke; cast: Don Baker, Gary Slemp, and Frankie Taylor. Red Fox/Second Hangin' is the true story of M.B. "Doc" Taylor, "the Red Fox"--a red-headed, red-bearded, popular preacher, doctor, mystic, and U.S. marshall and the coming of the first coal boom to Central Appalachia in the 1890's.

Wicked John (premiered 1977) playwright: company developed; director: Don Baker; cast: Don Baker, Angelyn DeBord, Jeff Hooper, Jeff Kaiser, and other company members. Wicked John is a performance of tales collected in the 1930s from community members in southwest Virginia and western North Carolina.

Jack Tales (premiered 1978) playwright: company developed; director: Don Baker; cast: Don Baker, Angelyn DeBord, Jeff Hooper, Jeff Kaiser, Jack Wright, and other company members. Jack Tales is a lively performance of traditional Appalachian Jack tales.

Brother Jack (premiered 1979) playwrights: Don Baker and Ron Short; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Angelyn DeBord, and Ron Short. Brother Jack is a collection of traditional Appalachian stories, including the much beloved Jack tales.

Mountain Tales & Music (premiered 1980) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Angelyn DeBord, and Ron Short. Mountain Tales & Music is an energetic performance of traditional tales and songs of the Appalachian Mountains ÷ fun for all ages.

Oliver (premiered 1980) playwright: Don Baker; director: Don Baker; cast: Jeff Kiser, Don Baker, Angelyn DeBord, and other company members. Oliver is the story of the life and times of a man and his family in the 20th century Appalachian coalfields of eastern Kentucky.

Pretty Polly (premiered 1981) playwrights: Don Baker and Ron Short; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Angelyn DeBord, and Ron Short. Pretty Polly weaves together tall tales, family remembrances, and traditional mountain songs accompanied by guitar, fiddle, and banjo to tell the story of Appalachian storyteller Polly Branham Johnson.

South of the Mountain (premiered 1982) playwright: Ron Short; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Nancy Jeffrey, and Ron Short. South of the Mountain traces the lives of two generations of an Appalachian mountain family living on a small farm as agrarian life gives way to coal mining and industrialization.

Leaving Egypt (premiered 1986) playwright: Ron Short; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, and Ron Short. Leaving Egypt tells the story of a family facing the loss of their ancestral homeplace circa 1969 Appalachia.

Open Windows (premiered 1988) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, Angelyn DeBord, and Ron Short. Open Windows is an exciting performance of Appalachian stories and songs.

Apples in the Fall (premiered 1988) playwright: Angelyn DeBord; directors: Ron Short and Rebecca Wackler; cast: Angelyn DeBord.

Appalachian Stories & Songs (premiered 1990) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Angelyn DeBord, and Ron Short. Appalachian Stories & Songs is a performance of tales and music from the Appalachian highlands.

Belfast to Benham (premiered 1993) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, and Ron Short. Belfast to Benham uses stories and music to trace the lives of the hard-hit people who left Scotland, Ireland, and England to build a new life in the mountains of southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

Dublin to Dayton (premiered 1993) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, Rema Keen, and Ron Short. Dublin to Dayton is a musical telling of the history of the Scots-Irish diaspora.

Borderline (premiered 1993) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, Rema Keen, and Ron Short. Borderline tells of the history of the Scotch-Irish people in Central Appalachia through story and song.

Christmas in Appalachia (premiered 1993) playwright: company developed; director: Ron Short; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, Nancy Jeffrey, Rema Keen, Ben Mays, and Ron Short. Christmas in Appalachia explores mountain holiday traditions through stories, remembrances, music and audience sing-a-longs.

Cumberland Mountain Memories (premiered 1994) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, Ben Mays, and Ron Short. Cumberland Mountain Memories is an engaging collection of stories and traditional and original music from the Cumberland Plateau.

New Ground Revival (premiered 1998) playwright: Ron Short; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Kim Cole, Bill Mullins, Myrtle Mullins, Scott Mullins, Anna Bell Puckett, and Ron Short. New Ground Revival is a musical play with 28 songs accompanied by banjo, guitar, and fiddle, featuring Roadside with the Mullins Family Singers, of Dickenson County, Virginia.

Singing on the Mountain (premiered 1998) playwright: Ron Short; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Kim Cole, Bill Mullins, Myrtle Mullins, Scott Mullins, Anna Bell Puckett, and Ron Short. Singing on the Mountain is a rousing concert of music celebrating Appalachian Mountain family harmony singing, featuring Roadside and the Mullins Family Singers.

Voices from the Battlefront (premiered 1999) playwright: Donna Porterfield; directors: Donna Porterfield and Ron Short; cast: Joy Briggs, Nancy Brock, Kim Cole, Sabrina Hall, Zena Peaks, and Ron Short. Voices from the Battlefront is a performance/workshop with music that explores the personal stories of victims and survivors of domestic violence.

Music from Home (premiered 2000) playwright: Ron Short; director: Ron Short; cast: Ron Short. Music from Home features 21 original songs, ranging in style from Appalachian gospel to southern soul, accompanied by a plainspoken narrative about life, love, and home.

Thousand Kites (premiered 2006)
playwright: Donna Porterfield; music: Ron Short and Carlton & Maurice Turner; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: community members. Thousand Kites was written in collaboration with prisoners, correction officers, and their respective families, and is one part of a multi-media collaboration with Holler to the Hood that addresses criminal justice issues. www.thousandkites.org.

Co-productions

Gifts of the Spirit (premiered 1992) playwright: Belinda Mason; directors: Jeff Hawkins and Ron Short; cast: Larry Adams, Crystal Howard, Manny Morrell, Medessa Sexton, Brian Warf, and Kim Wright. Gifts of the Spirit explores the response of a small, closely-knit community after the death of a local youth.

Gospel of Mary (premiered 1988) playwrights/directors/cast: Ron Short and Rebecca Wackler. Gospel of Mary explores the role of universal and personal myth in our search for spiritual identity. Using music, personal story, the Bible, and excerpts from the Nag Hammadi Scrolls, particularly the "Gospel of Mary", the play looks at the representations of men and women in Christian religion.

Junebug/Jack (premiered 1991) playwrights: Junebug Productions and Roadside Theater; directors: Dudley Cocke and Steve Kent; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, Nancy Jeffrey, Michael Keck, John O'Neal, Ron Short, and Letteta Theresa. Junebug/Jack is a collaboration with Junebug Productions of New Orleans which explores issues of race, class, and place through the stories and songs of two cultures

Good Morning, Whitesburg--Good Morning, Brno (premiered 1993) playwright: company developed; directors: Dudley Cocke and Petr Antonin; cast: Roadside and Czech Theatre on a String company members. Good Morning, Whitesburg--Good Morning, Brno explores what freedom means in Central Appalachia and the Czech Republic.

RoadBug (premiered 1995) playwrights: Roadside Theater and Junebug Productions; directors: Ron Short and John O'Neal; cast: Kim Cole, Nancy Jeffrey, Shawn D. Jackson, John O'Neal, Kenneth Raphael, and Ron Short. RoadBug is a collaboration with Junebug Productions made for children to enjoy stories and music from the African American and Appalachian cultures

Cross Pollination (premiered 1995) playwright: company developed; directors: Dudley Cocke and Jawolle Willa Jo Zollar; cast: Roadside and Urban Bush Women company members. Cross Pollination is a celebration of music, story, and movement from the African American and Appalachian traditions.

Breaking the Chains (premiered 1995) playwrights: Roadside Theater, Junebug Productions, and Pregones Theater; directors: Dudley Cocke and Alvan Colon Lespier; cast: Roadside, Junebug, and Pregones ensembles. Breaking the Chains uses stories and music to explore differences and similarities in Appalachian, Puerto Rican, and Southern African American communities.

Corn Mountain/Pine Mountain (premiered 1996) playwrights: Arden Kucate, Donna Porterfield, Ron Short, and Edward Wemytewa; director: Dudley Cocke; choreographer: Arden Kucate; translations: Dudley Cocke and Edward Wemytewa; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Kim Cole, Charlene Hechiley, Elgin Hechiley, Arden Kucate, Dinanda Laconsello, Ron Short, and Edward Wemytewa. Corn Mountain/Pine Mountain is an exciting collaboration about rural America between traditional Native American artists, Idiwanan An Chawe of Pueblo Zuni, New Mexico and Roadside Theater.

Xchange Cabaret (premiered 1996) playwrights: company developed; director: Rosalba Rolon; cast: Tommy Bledsoe, Adella Gautier, John O'Neal, Ricardo Pons, Kenneth Raphael, Caesar Rodriguez, and Judith Rivera. Xchange Cabaret brings together the music and stories of three diverse cultures--African American, Appalachian, and Puerto Rican.

Little X (premiered 1998) playwrights: Roadside Theater, Junebug Productions, and Pregones Theater; directors: Dudley Cocke and Rosalba Rolon; cast: Kim Cole, Donald Henderson, Jr., Jorge Merced, John O'Neal, Ricardo Pons, Judith Rivera, and Ron Short. Little X weaves together stories and music from the Appalachian, Southern African American, and Puerto Rican traditions.

Promise of a Love Song (premiered 1999) playwrights: John O'Neal, Rosalba Rolon, and Ron Short; directors: Steve Kent and Rosalba Rolon; cast: Kim Cole, Adella Gautier, Jorge Merced, John O'Neal, Judith Rivera, and Ron Short. Promise of a Love Song is a Junebug-Pregones-Roadside musical: New Orleans, the South Bronx, and the Cumberland Plateau meet on the subject of love.

Musica y Fabulas/Music and Tales (premiered 2000) playwrights: Roadside Theater, Junebug Productions, and Pregones Theater; directors: Steve Kent, Rosalba Rolon, and Ron Short; cast: Kim Cole, Adella Gautier, Jorge Merced, John O'Neal, Judith Rivera, and Ron Short. Musica y Fabulas/Music and Tales is performance for children and young adults of stories and music from Southern African American, Appalachian, and Puerto Rican cultures.

Why the Cowboy Sings (premiered 2002) playwrights: Hal Cannon and Dudley Cocke; directors: Hal Cannon and Dudley Cocke; cast: Vincent Craig, Stephanie Davis, Waddie Mitchell, Joel Nelson, Glenn Ohrlin, Henry Real Bird, and Larry Schutte. Why the Cowboy Sings is a celebration of cowboy poetry and music by the people who live the life.

Zuni Meets Appalachia (premiered 2003) playwrights: Idiwanan An Chawe and Roadside Theater; director: Dudley Cocke; original music: Ron Short; cast: Hal Cannon, Kim Neal Cole, Arden Kucate, Francis Leekya; Ron Short, Edward Wemytewa, Anthony Yamutewa. Zuni Meets Appalachia is an authentic and often humorous weave of traditional Zuni drumming, singing, and storytelling with Appalachian tale telling and singing accompanied by fiddle, guitar, and banjo.

Betsy (premiered 2006) book: Beegie Adair, Dudley Cocke, and Ron Short; music: Beegie Adair, Desmar Guevara, and Ron Short; director: Dudley Cocke and Rosalba Rolón; premiere cast: Beegie Adair, Waldo Chavez, Connye Florance, Alex García, Desmar Guevara, Elize Hernández, Roberto Rosario, and Ron Short. Roadside’s newest musical collaboration with Pregones Theater of NYC tells the story of a Bronx born and bred Puerto Rican jazz singer who stirs up the little known history of her Scotch-Irish ancestry, bringing to life ghosts that have a life of their own.

Mentoring

Oysters, Pirates, and Ponies (premiered 1985) playwright: community developed; director: Ron Short; cast: community members. Oysters, Pirates, and Ponies brings together community members and students from local elementary, middle, and high schools in a re-telling of Chincoteague history and legend.

In Our Time (premiered 1989) playwright: Haysi High School Drama Club; director: Ron Short; cast: Haysi High School Drama Club. In Our Time uses stories and music to examine the history of the Haysi, Virginia area.

While the Spirit Moves (premiered 1994) playwright: community developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: community members. While the Spirit Moves, created from the personal stories of the participants, is a collaboration between residents of London-area public housing and the Roadside and Junebug ensembles.

Circle of Life (premiered 1992) playwright: class and community developed; director/dramaturg: Ron Short; cast: students and community members. Circle of Life is a performance of personal and community stories collected from and told by Cornell students and Ithaca-area public school students and senior citizens.

Wicked Good (premiered 1995) playwright: community developed; director: Ron Short; cast: students. Wicked Good is a celebration of local history and folklore as presented by New Beginnings Middle and Elementary School students.

Walk Together Children (premiered 1996) playwright: Hermine Pinson; director: Bruce McConachie; dramaturgs/artists-in-residence: Dudley Cocke, Theresa Holden, and Robbie McCauley; cast:Vivian Appler, Brian Boyd, Alicia Caleb, Kevin Cusick, Dan Figg, George Jack, Elaine Kessler, Nina Millin, Bonnie Morrison, Colleen Mylott, Tristan Poje, Tevera Stith, Sylvia Tabb-Lee, Russell Taylor, and Dan White. Walk Together Children is a university/community collaborative play exploring racial integration of Williamsburg, Virginia schools in the 1950s and 60s.

Highly Classified: Narratives from ASU's Classified Staff (premiered 1998) playwrights: Kristin Valentine, Jennifer Shamrock, and Amanda Hubber, directors: Kristin Valentine, Laura Lofgreen, and Jennifer Shamrock; dramaturg/artist-in-residence: Dudley Cocke; cast: Luis Flores, Erik M. Jensen, Rose Loschiavo, Shawna Marquis, Jordana Oberman, Michelle Paredes, Patrick Rhodes, Justin Walker, and Reba Wilson. Highly Classified is a retelling of the personal and communal stories collected from ASU's "classified" workers--plumbers, grounds keepers, secretaries, custodians, police officers, electricians, heating/air conditioning specialists, and others.

Roadside Theater & Friends: Four Cultures (premiered 1998) playwright: company developed; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Kim Cole, Jarvette Chopito, Kayla Eriacho, Zarco Guerrero, Carleen Hustito, Dinanda Laconsello, Francis Leekya, Jr., John Niiha, Demetrius Pinto, Ron Short, Edward Wemytewa, Ethan Wemytewa, and the St. Peter Indian Mission School Student Dance Group. Roadside Theater & Friends brings together Appalachian, Zuni and Pima Native American, and Chicano performers to share stories, music, and dance from four diverse cultures.

Behind the Barrier (premiered 1999) playwright: Richard Wilson with Lisa Busse, Ray Estrada, Erin Hansen, and Al Phillips; director: Dudley Cocke; cast: Lisa Busse, Ray Estrada, Erin Hansen, Al Phillips, Ron Short, and Richard Wilson. Behind the Barrier delves beyond police cars, uniforms, and reflective sunglasses to explore the lives of Arizona State police officers, on and off duty.

Beans (premiered 1999) playwriting and directing consultant: Dudley Cocke; cast: Terrance Bailey, Sheena Bench, Brittany Lembrant, Sammy Lopez, Anita Montoya, Maria Montoya, Jennifer O'Neil, and Jessica O'Neil. Beans is a presentation of stories collected from and performed by members of the Phoenix, Arizona Boys & Girls Club (ages 8 - 12).

Weaving the Thread of Community (premiered 2000) playwright: Sally Voris; directors: Sally Voris and Ron Short; cast: community members. Weaving the Thread of Community explores the relationship between four Maryland communities through local stories and music.

Varying the Pattern (premiered 2000) playwright: Sally Voris; director: Sally Voris with Ron Short; cast:community volunteers and professional storytellers.

A Winter's Feast (premiered 2001) playwright: Sally Voris; director: Sally Voris with Ron Short; cast: community members.

Inside the Memory Box (premiered 2001) playwright: Sally Voris; director: Sally Voris with Ron Short, cast: community members.

A Completely Different World (premiered 2001) playright: Sally Voris; director: Sally Voris with Ron Short; cast: community members.

Circle Tellings (premiered 2002) playwright: Ron Short with stories by "Story to Stage" students; directors: Ron Short and Jim Slowiak; cast: Andrea Amicon, Ryan Stephan Anderson, Sarah Coury, Sara Cutlip, Megan A. Elk, Justin M. Hale, Tiffany A. Little, Miranda M. Marks, Carrie L. Szoka, and Debora Totti. Circle Tellings is an intensely personal play dramatizing the lives of Y2K-era college students in the Midwest.

Stranger at the Table (premiered 2002) playwrights: Jordan Simmons with community volunteers; director/dramaturg: Ron Short; cast: community members. Stranger at the Table is actually four plays of the same name that celebrate the culture, stories, and music of four diverse communities in San Francisco's Iron Triangle --Mien, Laotian, Mexican American, and African American.

College Journal (premiered 2002) playwright: Ron Short with stories by Theater 195 (Storytelling) class; director: Ron Short; cast: Adam Buckles, Michael Dillard, Christie Madden, Nicole Manilla, Christopher Martin, Mollie Meade, Luke O'Toole, Dieontea Stewart, Dana Stutts, William Webb, and Benjamin Zeno. College Journal presents the personal stories of college students living in a rural community.