Interview with Ron Short, February 12, 2016

Partial Transcript: Hello, this is Jeff K--

Segment Synopsis: Short talks about his expectations concerning his education after leaving the military. He says he had hoped he would be able to get a job out of the military, but didn't have the correct training in the medical field, so he went to college to get a career. He really took to what Professor Helen Lewis talked about in her sociology class. He gives an example on strip mining. Lewis confronted the college on taking money from strip mining. Short explains how difficult taking on such big corporations can be. He tells a story he heard about how a strip mine representative came and offered a lot of money to have the administration fire her. They did not, and the representative mentioned doing her bodily harm instead. He points out how dangerous her ideas of questioning the status quo and authority were.

Keywords: Authorities; Clinch Valley College; Helen Lewis; Political voice; Public voice; Roadside Theater Company; Status quos

Subjects: Appalachian Region; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Coal mines and mining--Environmental aspects

Partial Transcript: To follow up on, uh, Helen, you talked about her making connections to thinking about the region in a revolutionary way.

Segment Synopsis: Short talks about starting college and coming from a place of conflict out of the war. He talks about the critical thinking Professor Helen Lewis made them do in classes thinking about their identity and the importance of Appalachian culture. He explains the struggles of moving a cause forward using the story of a woman he knew at Highlander who worked in a steel factory in World War II. He thinks some progress has been made in understanding Appalachian culture with the addition of "Appalachian Studies" classes in colleges which are now commonplace in the area.

Keywords: Appalachian studies; Clinch Valley College; Conflicts; Helen Lewis; Highlander Folk School (New Market, Tenn.); Jobs; Political voice; Public voice; WW2; WWII; Women; World War 2; World War II

Subjects: Appalachia; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; World War, 1939-1945

Partial Transcript: And that's probably a good place for us to stop.

Segment Synopsis: Short talks about his transition from Clinch Valley College to Highlander to Roadside. He talks about his first introduction to Roadside Theater Company. He mentions the play at Roadside "Red Fox/Second Hangin'" catching his attention. Short started at Roadside in the late 1970s and participated in collaborations between Roadside and other groups. He talks about the deeper meaning created by the collaborations of two different cultures.

Subjects: Appalachia

Partial Transcript: Now, uh, I wanna talk about that with you, but, uh, my understanding just in terms of timeline and evolution of Roadside was that, um, you all were already doing these different theater collaborations...

Segment Synopsis: Short talks about the Roadside Theater Company's collaborations with other groups. He mentions the creation of the "Story Circle," a program where a group tells stories about themselves to each other. He says he was always humbled and surprised by the people in these sessions. He also describes the intense life associated with working at Roadside. He claims that as a place that has a mission to educate and promote critical thinking, it was not meant to make others comfortable. He also speaks on Roadside's political voice.

Keywords: Cross-cultural collaborations; Identities; Political voice; Public voice; Roadside Theater Company; Stories; Story circles

Subjects: Appalachian Region; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Education

Partial Transcript: Well now, I wanna, I wanna get back to that but--by kind of focusing a bit again on the 80s cause you, you gave a, a nice narrative there in terms of the direction of Roadside, how it became what it is and sort of interplays in the working between you, Dudley, and Donna.

Segment Synopsis: Short explains how much of a struggle and how draining the writing process is for him. He talks about creating worlds in his head that felt very real. He also says he would create his characters and base them on real people to make them so realistic. He also mentions his play "South of the Mountain," and how it was a fictionalized telling of a real event. He was surprised his family accepted that version of the story as the truth. He thought it might be because it was simple to have this nice, summed up version of the event they didn't need to explain.

Keywords: "Pretty Polly"; "South of the Mountain"; Fictions; Histories; Identities; Plays; Political voice; Public voice; Realism; Roadside Theater Company; Writing

Subjects: Appalachian Region--History

Partial Transcript: So the--you know, in terms of your, uh--taking the trilogy for a moment and, and just talking about the--these separately.

Segment Synopsis: Short talks about writers always writing what they know. He explains the play "Pretty Polly" was an examination of violence against women and a way to make people see this part of the culture. He says the next play "South of the Mountain" was centered on conflict he experienced within his family--and by extension, many Appalachian families. "Leaving Egypt," Short states, was the story of going through trauma and coming back home to ground yourself. He explains he focuses on telling stories grounded in realism with mythological influences with very flawed, real characters. He warns of the danger of taking the myth for history and that most of history is myth.

Keywords: "Leaving Egypt"; "Pretty Polly"; "South of the Mountain"; Families; Mythology; Political voice; Public voice; Realism; Roadside Theater Company; Women; Writing

Subjects: Appalachian Region; Appalachian Region--History; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Music

Partial Transcript: Well, uh, to go back to, uh, the third piece in the, um--to "Leaving Egypt"--

Segment Synopsis: Short talks about how much research he does for each play. He plans many of his plays out to the point of conclusion before ever writing anything. For "Leaving Egypt" he researched nonviolent movements in India and with Martin Luther King, Jr. He discusses the characters' views and how he finds the most important voice in a nonviolent movement is the man who has been to war and knows war doesn't work. He also talks about the need to understand violence is not the answer, and people need to actively work to understand the problem and then work towards a solution instead of just fighting.

Keywords: "Leaving Egypt"; Non-violent movements; Plays; Political voice; Protests; Public voice; Research; Roadside Theater Company; War; Wars

Subjects: Appalachian Region; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs

Partial Transcript: We'll get, we'll get to "Betsy!", um, but what I'd like to segue way to right now if you don't mind--

Segment Synopsis: Short explains why they decided to keep strong accents and some stereotypes in their work because that is who people are. He says their plays are meant to be entertaining but not just entertainment. They tell the stories they tell for a reason. He talks about the misinformation that can be spread, citing a story about a friend who moved from Appalachia as a child and his new teachers sent him to speech therapy because they thought his accent was a speech impediment. The friend believes part of his identity was taken by his accent being taught away. He says he understands the need for balance between being yourself and being accepted by society but Roadside Theater Company has decided they won't change themselves for people out of their culture who come to see their plays.

Keywords: Accents; Identities; Political voice; Public voice; Roadside Theater Company; Stereotypes

Subjects: Appalachian Region; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs

Partial Transcript: I like what you're saying about, uh, the, you know, if you were to leave behind--if you were kind of to minimize an accent you'd be diminishing difference but you would also be diminishing the art because you wouldn't be doing what, what you do and what you do well, and, um, what you do best.

Segment Synopsis: Short discusses the differences between Appalachian people and other minorities and their struggles. He explains that the big issues with Appalachian people are poverty and being marginalized economically. He believes that there is not necessarily an equivalence between all marginalized peoples (referencing the fact that most Appalachians are white), but marginalized peoples share many problems including poverty, drugs, kids without involved parents, etc. He explains awareness of issues is the first step to change and knowledge is what allows true change. He says the point of Roadside Theater Company is to open that dialogue to inform people. He states that Appalshop, in the beginning, was against how political Roadside was and there was some pushback from them in the 1990s. However, in the last decade or so Appalshop has taken on a more active, public voice, too.

Keywords: Accents; Cross-cultural collaborations; Marginalized groups; Minorities; Political voice; Public voice; Roadside Theater Company

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalshop, Inc.; Education

Partial Transcript: So that's where I'd love to go.

Segment Synopsis: Short discusses some of Roadside Theater Company's residencies, cross-cultural collaborations, and projects with young people. He explains that Roadside did plenty of research and groundwork before collaborating on projects. He states the whole point of the collaborations were to give others the tools to have their own voices. He believes this will be Roadside's legacy -- the passing of their techniques to speak on larger issues to others.

Keywords: Cross-cultural collaborations; Legacies; Political voice; Public voice; Residencies; Roadside Theater Company

Subjects: Appalachia; Education

Partial Transcript: In the '90s it seems like both the cross-cultural emphasis, the, the--and the residency emphasis, as you've talked about, become very important.

Segment Synopsis: Short describes the pushback they sometimes received from Appalshop in the 1990s. He explains it was likely a combination of envy at Roadside's success, the belief that Roadside was too radical in their teaching, and the fact that Roadside was constantly on the road and not with the other Appalshop employees. He says there was some fear Roadside would leave Appalshop, become independent, and take the money with them. However, Short states that was never their intention.

Keywords: Conflicts; Money; Political voice; Public voice; Roadside Theater Company; Successes

Subjects: Appalshop, Inc.; Education

Partial Transcript: You're talking about the successes of the '90s and just how active you all were.

Segment Synopsis: Short details cross-cultural collaborations. He explains New Ground Revival was just a way to give others a voice instead of them just performing. He talks about his time working with the Zuni and creating a play in the people's language. He mentions one of the Zuni they worked with, Edward, who really grew during the collaboration and is now an activist for the Zuni.

Keywords: Cross-cultural collaborations; New Ground Revival; Plays; Political voice; Public voice; Roadside Theater Company; Zuni

Subjects: Appalachian Region; Education

Partial Transcript: We've, we've gone about two hours in, in talking--

Segment Synopsis: Short gives details on Roadside Theater Company's time working in the Czech Republic. He explains they visited not long after the Berlin Wall came down and that the Czech voice had been one of resistance since the occupation of the Nazis. Now that the resistance wasn't necessary, they were relearning their voice. Roadside Theater Company tried to help that, and Short says they all really connected to each other. According to him, the best review they ever received was given on "Leaving Egypt" while they were there. He jokes they wanted American everything -- especially his Harley t-shirts.

Keywords: "Leaving Egypt"; American culture; Cross-cultural collaborations; Czech Republic; Homes; Political voice; Public voice; Resistance; Reviews; Roadside Theater Company

Subjects: Appalachia

Partial Transcript: Two more questions as promised.

Segment Synopsis: Short discusses the writing of his play "Betsy!" and his wish to tell America's story. He says he knew he wanted it to be big, have lots of music, and not necessarily be so narrative driven. He wanted to tell the story of regular Americans from women's perspectives. He discusses the music used being a mix of America's music including Celtic, African, Latin, Appalachian, Country, and Jazz music. He states the present-day "Betsy!" was a product of American culture that had been tried and tested. He also believes it is the most complete play he's ever written.

Keywords: "Betsy!"; America; American culture; Bronx; Celtic music; Histories; Latin music; Plays; Roadside Theater Company; Stories; Women

Subjects: Country music; Jazz; Music

Partial Transcript: Well you've been so generous with your time and I wanted to--here at the end--uh, give you a chance to speak to what you see as Road--uh, Roadside's legacy and, and role in any way that maybe I haven't been able to get by--through my questioning.

Segment Synopsis: Short says Roadside Theater Company's legacy is a way of thinking and viewing the world. He says he will always be using the techniques and tools Roadside has given him, whether or not he is a full-time employee at Roadside now. He also tells a story of meeting some kids he had worked with at Roadside headed to the grade school. Short asked what they were going to the school for and their response was they were going to "roadside them."

Keywords: Legacies; Roadside Theater Company; Thinking

Subjects: Appalachia