@dramatistsguild @schlueter_j

         Julie Whitney Scott exudes leadership. A vibrant, persuasive woman, Scott is the dynamo behind the Columbus Black Theatre Festival “Everybody was going out of town, to Detroit, to Atlanta,” she says, “and I thought: why not here?” Scott, herself a writer and director, poured her considerable energies into building the Festival from the ground up. Now in its fourth year, the Columbus Black Theatre Festival (CBTF) returns to the Columbus Performing Arts Center in July 2016 to present the work of local and national playwrights engaged in dramatizing the black experience.

           Scott has kept a strong focus on community engagement at the core of CBTF by organizing it around a different social theme each year. For example, in the first year of the Festival, the focus was “family;” in the third it was “addiction and suicide prevention.” This year, in 2016, it will be “mental illness.” 

           CBTF has grown across its first three years from presenting four plays to seven. Throughout, Scott has provided performance venues, marketing, and staffing for all selected productions. Playwrights retain full creative control over their work.

           Critically, the Festival supports playwrights at all levels of experience. Seasoned playwrights, like Dramatists Guild member Nanette Marie Hodge, have been presented there. So too have writers new to the stage but with experience in other genres, like Charlay Marie. Ms. Marie, author of the novel Under the Peach Tree, says of her experience with CBTF, “[Scott] truly cares about the art and is for the people.”

           Scott built CBTF with family audiences in mind. Tickets are always free for children under thirteen; she also offers a family pass for full access to all Festival events. Keen to opening her work to the widest possible audience, Scott points out that many people “won’t come because they can’t afford to spend $10 per ticket for a family of four” and that theatre cannot and should not be “only for the rich.” Adamant that no one be left out of the live theatre experience, and focused on the fact that we “must introduce youth to the theatre,” Scott strives to make it possible for everyone to access CBTF work.

           In addition to presenting plays, CBTF underwrites workshops. In 2015, festival-goers could attend workshops on writing and on improvisation. These workshops extend the reach of the Festival into the local community, connecting with individuals interested in art-making, no matter what their experience or background.

           Submissions are currently being accepted for this year’s Festival, which unfolds July 8-10 2016. Visit the Columbus Black Theatre Festival website at www.colsblacktheatrefestival.com for more information

jschlueter@dramatistsguild.com