Dudley Cocke was Director of Roadside Theater, 1978-2018, and from 2012-2014 he simultaneously served as Interim Director of Appalshop, the award-winning rural Appalachian arts and humanities center in Whitesburg, Kentucky of which Roadside is one part. Roadside, the 2009 recipient of the Otto Rene Castillo Award for Political Theater, is known for its Appalachian plays, which have toured across 49 states and attracted audiences across lines of race and class, and for its play collaborations with African American, Native American, and Latino theater ensembles. In 2015, Dudley co-authored the book and co-directed the off-Broadway musical Betsy!, which received the HOLA Award for Outstanding Musical Theater Production. Dudley has been a board member of three private philanthropic foundations and is the recipient of the 2002 Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities. He co-edited the two-volumes Art in a Democracy: Selected Plays of Roadside Theater (New Village Press, 2023), which includes ten critical essays from a range of perspectives and a history of what the rural theater set out to do and how it turned out. Phone: (276) 325-0313
It’s commonplace today to hear that democracy’s future is at risk. And as social media feeds us o... more It’s commonplace today to hear that democracy’s future is at risk. And as social media feeds us our daily diet of rancorous extremism, there is a growing recognition that culture is a central battleground for democracy’s survival. What is missing, and what we need, is a cultural strategy to fight back. artinademocracy.org
Dudley Cocke, Artistic Director of Roadside Theater, reviews a new collection of writing by grass... more Dudley Cocke, Artistic Director of Roadside Theater, reviews a new collection of writing by grassroots American theater pioneer Robert E. Gard, with additional contributions by Maryo Gard Ewell, Robert L. Lynch, and Michael Winslaw; edited by Maryo Gard Ewell with Clayton Lord and Elizabeth Sweeney
Building aesthetics could be improved by designing “authentic” structural details that do not req... more Building aesthetics could be improved by designing “authentic” structural details that do not require the extra finishes to make them more attractive. This paper will examine a case study of an existing building where exposed structural elements provide both aesthetic and sustainable benefits as part of an extensive renovation project. The objective of this renovation project was to leave the new structural elements exposed for aesthetic purposes. A new exposed truss and exposed wood floor system create a functional and architecturally inspiring space, giving new life to a once forgotten building. This paper includes a life cycle assessment of the exposed wood floor assembly compared to a life cycle assessment of a typical concrete, metal deck, and steel beam floor assembly. This case study provides an argument for structural engineers and architects everywhere that “authentic” structural design with an eye on aesthetics is a viable approach toward sustainability.
... 4:16782 Anna Halprin's Urban Rituals, Janice Ross 2:5067 Art in a Democracy, Dudle... more ... 4:16782 Anna Halprin's Urban Rituals, Janice Ross 2:5067 Art in a Democracy, Dudley Cocke 3:16573 Badal Sircar: Traveling with Our Theatre, Shayoni Mitra 3:5978 The Big Issues and the Happy Few (Comment), Richard Schechner 2:68 ...
Originally published in the article "Up Front: American Theaters Reflect on the Events of Septemb... more Originally published in the article "Up Front: American Theaters Reflect on the Events of September 11," American Theatre magazine, February 2002.
An examination of the short- and long-term impacts of 1997's National Endowment for the Arts rest... more An examination of the short- and long-term impacts of 1997's National Endowment for the Arts restructuring on grassroots and community-based arts institutions and the populations they serve.
In Praise of Contradiction and Conundrum All art of every sort changes the world. Perhaps an arti... more In Praise of Contradiction and Conundrum All art of every sort changes the world. Perhaps an artist aims at less direct, precise, immediate an effect than a president or legislator or general or banker or activist will have; but more effect, more potency, more agency than the ...
Originally published in the book An Ideal Theater: Founding Visions for a New American Art, 2013.... more Originally published in the book An Ideal Theater: Founding Visions for a New American Art, 2013.
Editor Todd London describes this seminal essay by Roadside Artistic Director Dudley Cocke as ”less a picture of a founding vision than the articulation of an evolving one–and the specific ideas and practices that grow to fulfill that vision.”
Originally published in Art and Community Change: Exploring Cultural Development Policies, Practi... more Originally published in Art and Community Change: Exploring Cultural Development Policies, Practices and Dilemmas by Max Stephenson, Jr. and A. Scott Tate.
This chapter reports the search by a rural, professional theater company (Appalshop's Roadside Theater) for a cultural development paradigm that utilizes the inherent intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and material traditions and features of a community to encourage individual agency in support of community well-being.
It’s commonplace today to hear that democracy’s future is at risk. And as social media feeds us o... more It’s commonplace today to hear that democracy’s future is at risk. And as social media feeds us our daily diet of rancorous extremism, there is a growing recognition that culture is a central battleground for democracy’s survival. What is missing, and what we need, is a cultural strategy to fight back. artinademocracy.org
Dudley Cocke, Artistic Director of Roadside Theater, reviews a new collection of writing by grass... more Dudley Cocke, Artistic Director of Roadside Theater, reviews a new collection of writing by grassroots American theater pioneer Robert E. Gard, with additional contributions by Maryo Gard Ewell, Robert L. Lynch, and Michael Winslaw; edited by Maryo Gard Ewell with Clayton Lord and Elizabeth Sweeney
Building aesthetics could be improved by designing “authentic” structural details that do not req... more Building aesthetics could be improved by designing “authentic” structural details that do not require the extra finishes to make them more attractive. This paper will examine a case study of an existing building where exposed structural elements provide both aesthetic and sustainable benefits as part of an extensive renovation project. The objective of this renovation project was to leave the new structural elements exposed for aesthetic purposes. A new exposed truss and exposed wood floor system create a functional and architecturally inspiring space, giving new life to a once forgotten building. This paper includes a life cycle assessment of the exposed wood floor assembly compared to a life cycle assessment of a typical concrete, metal deck, and steel beam floor assembly. This case study provides an argument for structural engineers and architects everywhere that “authentic” structural design with an eye on aesthetics is a viable approach toward sustainability.
... 4:16782 Anna Halprin's Urban Rituals, Janice Ross 2:5067 Art in a Democracy, Dudle... more ... 4:16782 Anna Halprin's Urban Rituals, Janice Ross 2:5067 Art in a Democracy, Dudley Cocke 3:16573 Badal Sircar: Traveling with Our Theatre, Shayoni Mitra 3:5978 The Big Issues and the Happy Few (Comment), Richard Schechner 2:68 ...
Originally published in the article "Up Front: American Theaters Reflect on the Events of Septemb... more Originally published in the article "Up Front: American Theaters Reflect on the Events of September 11," American Theatre magazine, February 2002.
An examination of the short- and long-term impacts of 1997's National Endowment for the Arts rest... more An examination of the short- and long-term impacts of 1997's National Endowment for the Arts restructuring on grassroots and community-based arts institutions and the populations they serve.
In Praise of Contradiction and Conundrum All art of every sort changes the world. Perhaps an arti... more In Praise of Contradiction and Conundrum All art of every sort changes the world. Perhaps an artist aims at less direct, precise, immediate an effect than a president or legislator or general or banker or activist will have; but more effect, more potency, more agency than the ...
Originally published in the book An Ideal Theater: Founding Visions for a New American Art, 2013.... more Originally published in the book An Ideal Theater: Founding Visions for a New American Art, 2013.
Editor Todd London describes this seminal essay by Roadside Artistic Director Dudley Cocke as ”less a picture of a founding vision than the articulation of an evolving one–and the specific ideas and practices that grow to fulfill that vision.”
Originally published in Art and Community Change: Exploring Cultural Development Policies, Practi... more Originally published in Art and Community Change: Exploring Cultural Development Policies, Practices and Dilemmas by Max Stephenson, Jr. and A. Scott Tate.
This chapter reports the search by a rural, professional theater company (Appalshop's Roadside Theater) for a cultural development paradigm that utilizes the inherent intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and material traditions and features of a community to encourage individual agency in support of community well-being.
Speech delivered by Roadside Theater Artistic Director Dudley Cocke at the "Voices from the Cultu... more Speech delivered by Roadside Theater Artistic Director Dudley Cocke at the "Voices from the Cultural Battlefront Forum," held at New York University, June 2007.
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Editor Todd London describes this seminal essay by Roadside Artistic Director Dudley Cocke as ”less a picture of a founding vision than the articulation of an evolving one–and the specific ideas and practices that grow to fulfill that vision.”
This chapter reports the search by a rural, professional theater company (Appalshop's Roadside Theater) for a cultural development paradigm that utilizes the inherent intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and material traditions and features of a community to encourage individual agency in support of community well-being.
Editor Todd London describes this seminal essay by Roadside Artistic Director Dudley Cocke as ”less a picture of a founding vision than the articulation of an evolving one–and the specific ideas and practices that grow to fulfill that vision.”
This chapter reports the search by a rural, professional theater company (Appalshop's Roadside Theater) for a cultural development paradigm that utilizes the inherent intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and material traditions and features of a community to encourage individual agency in support of community well-being.