Description

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Seminal plays and essays reveal the radical origins and approach of Appalachia's Roadside Theater

This two-volume anthology tells the story of Roadside Theater's first 45 years and includes nine award-winning original play scripts; ten essays by authors from different disciplines and generations, which explore the plays' social, economic, and political circumstances; and a critical recounting of the theater's history from 1975 through 2020. The plays in Volume 1 offer a people's history of the Appalachian coalfields, from the European incursion through the American War in Vietnam.

About the Author

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Ben Fink worked with the Roadside ensemble from 2015 through 2020, as a member of the Betsy! Scholars' Circle, as the founding organizer of the Letcher County Culture Hub and the Performing Our Future coalition, and as the cofounder of the cross-partisan dialogue project Hands Across the Hills. He has also served as dramaturg on the German premieres of two Broadway musicals. His work in theater, organizing, pedagogy, and economic development has been featured by Salon.com, the Brookings Institution, TDR/The Drama Review, Harvard Law School, Americans for the Arts, PolicyLink, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2020, Ben was recognized by Time magazine as one of "27 People Bridging Divides Across America."