Growing up in the historic Black Bronzeville neighborhood in the 1960s and 70s, Julie Whitney Scott was surrounded by the bustling streets of Mount Vernon Avenue.
66-year-old playwright Whitney Scott now lives on the Northeast Side.
She also mentioned a restaurant called Spencers, which serves enviable burgers, milkshakes and pies.
“For $1 you can get four chili dogs,” she said. “Best chili dog in the world. It was a neighborhood staple.”
Whitney-Scott incorporated that history into her play “Snowville Cafe.” The production will premiere at her MadLab Theater on Thursday at 8pm and will run through February 18th.
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Set in Bronzeville from 1970 to 2015, it follows the marriage of Dell and Matt Snowville, a black couple who own Snowville Café. Participants will watch a husband and wife fall in love, go through difficult times, and determine the future of their relationship.
At the same time, they meet an interesting cast of secondary characters, including friends, store employees and patrons.
“People are hooked on Matt and Dell,” said Whitney Scott, who produces the annual Columbus Black Theater Festival. “They’ve watched them over the years, so they also know a little bit about what’s going on.”
Whitney said she was “thrilled” about the history in the play.
After the Columbus Call and Post, a black newspaper, stoked “blockbusting” real estate practices, i.e., the fear that black families would move into their neighborhoods, white homeowners It mentions everything from persuading a property to sell below market value.
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The Whitehall district is also mentioned as an area once feared to be visited by black people.
“We didn’t cross Nelson,” Whitney Scott said of Bronzeville (known today as King Lincoln/Bronzeville) and other neighborhoods on the rest of the East Side, including the Whitehall neighborhood. Told about the road that separates from the part.
This was news for Snowville Café director James Blackmon, an Alabama native and senior drama director at Whitehall Yearling High School.
“I’m learning so much,” said Blackmon, 54, of North Linden, who is also MadLab’s artistic director. “You’re taking a history class, but you’re learning slyly.”
Blackmon also praised the chemistry of actors Wilma Hutton and Ricardo Jones, who play Del and Matt respectively.
“What I love about Dell is that she likes to look a little stiffer, but she’s a tough woman and very vulnerable,” said Hutton, who has been acting for almost 30 years. Told.
Hutton is also associated with King Lincoln/Bronzeville. Not only did she live in her neighborhood, but she heard many stories about her history from her father, who passed away in 2011.
“When they reopened the Lincoln Theater, it was one of my last bonding moments with my dad,” she said. look at it Look at this. (This play) helps bring my father back to life. ”
Hutton hopes that viewers of the play will understand the “humanity” of black culture.
“Not only can we fuss, argue, and fight for the best of them, but we can also love black women, especially, very ardently.
Both Blackmon and Whitney-Scott said everyone could be involved in something in the production.
And Whitney-Scott was especially pleased to see the men absorbed in the play at the stage readings.
“Men were hugging their wives,” she said. “I saw love in the theater.”
ethompson@dispatch.com
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at a glance
MadLab Theater, 227 N. 3rd St. presents “Snowville Cafe” Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. February 10-11 and February 17-18. General admission is $20, but students and MadLab members pay $17 and $15 respectively. Visit madlab.net for more information.
