Ron Short, Kim Neal Cole, and Nancy Smith perform Roadside’s Mountain Tales & Music. photo by Tim Cox	Roadside What would it be like for rural Appalachia to have a professional theater company and a body of original Appalachian drama? That’s what the founders of Roadside Theater asked themselves in 1975. We also wanted to know whether theater that relied on the local and the specific, rendered faithfully and imaginatively, could affect people anywhere. The answer turned out to be yes. Roadside has toured in 43 states, has been in residence a number of times off-Broadway, and has represented the United States at more than half-a-dozen international theater festivals, including in Sweden, London, and the Czech Republic. While Roadside continues to draw the inspiration for both the form and content of its plays from its homeland, the ensemble is also creating collaborative plays with other ensembles with vibrant connections to their particular place, people, and culture. Presently, Roadside is collaborating with theaters in New Orleans, the South Bronx, and Zuni, New Mexico.

		Getting Out the Audience Roadside Theater works with presenters and community partners to produce residencies and performances which reach a diverse audience. Without exception, Roadside provides presenters with telephone and in-person planning sessions, promotional materials uniquely designed to reach a new audience, and booklets explaining its residency process and activities.

		Residencies An important part of Roadside’s work is conducting multi-year residencies that help community groups and local artists embark on the same journey that Roadside began 24 years ago. These community-building residencies begin with public performances of plays selected from Roadside’s repertoire, complemented by workshops which explore the theater’s history, purpose, and artistic process. In the second phase of the residency, the community, with Roadside’s help, begins to uncover its own stories and music through a specific story and music circle process. This second phase culminates with public performances by the community of its stories and music — often in conjunction with big potluck suppers or community cook-outs. In the third phase of the residency, a community’s stories and music form the natural resource to craft plays which are produced by a community’s artists for the public. The final phase of the residency formally acknowledges the local project leaders and artists, seeks to identify infrastructure and resources to establish a place for their work in their community, and introduces their work to other theaters and presenters in the national arts community.

		Key Collaborators Western & Southern Arts Associates and The Artist and Community Connection For the past decade, Michael and Theresa Holden, co-directors of Western and Southern Arts Associates (WASAA), have collaborated with Roadside on all of our national residencies. Their role is much larger than that of booking agent; they are always co-producers with us of our national work — and sometimes the sole producer. Roadside also works with The Artist and Community Connection (ACC), the nonprofit producing organization founded five years ago by Theresa Holden. Through a range of national projects with artists, presenters, and community organizations, ACC is bringing definition to the role of producer as cultural activist and organizer.

		Appalshop Roadside Theater is one part of Appalshop, the nonprofit cultural arts organization that also includes the Appalshop Center, the American Festival Project, Appalshop Film and Video, Appalshop Marketing and Sales, the Appalachian Media Institute, Headwaters Television, June Appal Recordings, and WMMT-FM Community Radio. Currently, Appalshop is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

		Funding Partners Roadside Theater thanks its 1999 funding partners: the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Albert A. List Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Council, the Lila Wallace Arts Partners Program, the Appalshop Endowment, and Alternate ROOTS. Roadside is a founding member of the American Festival Project, Alternate ROOTS, and the Global Network for Cultural Rights, and a member of Theatre Communications Group.

		Contact Information: Roadside Theater 91 Madison Avenue, Whitesburg, KY 41858 Phone (606) 633-0108 FAX (606) 633-1009 E-mail roadside@appalshop.org Web Page www.appalshop.org/rst Performance Fee Subsidies Available to Presenters From: Western States Arts Foundation North Carolina Arts Council Mid-Atlantic Arts Consortium Southern Arts Federation Alternate ROOTS The Heartland Fund (in the midwest) Roadside Theater Staff Dudley Cocke Director Tamara Coffey Administrative and Producing Associate Kim Neal Cole Performer Ben Mays Technical Director Donna Porterfield Managing Director Ron Short Playwright, Composer, Performer Nancy Smith Performer