After a year and a half hiatus, Cafe and Then Some is reopening to the public on Nov. 12.
Like many other downtown Greenville restaurants, the dinner theater closed last March due to the pandemic.
“We did the last show in the middle of March thinking we’d be back the following weekend,” said co-owner Susan Smith. “It was like a time warp to come back in here after a year and a half and the same set was up, and all the costumes were where we had left them.”
As a sign of the times, the cafe’s returning show is called “COVID: The Musical.” It stars Smith, her husband Bill, Jim Wilkins, Ted Bruce and Maureen Abdalla.
The Smiths and Bruce are among three members of the original cast of a theater troupe that began doing comedy skits at a sandwich shop on East North Street in 1978. They later took the show to the Red Baron on Main Street, and in 1983 moved to a permanent home at 101 College St., where they remain today.
The troupe’s original plays serve up hearty helpings of satire based on current events and good-natured roasting of the local people who drive them.
“We focus on big themes with a local twist,” Smith said.
In keeping with health and safety guidelines, actors have all been vaccinated, and cafe staff wear masks. A number of tables have also been removed to help with social distancing.
Cafe and Then Some is open for dinner starting at 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Showtime is at 8 p.m. Admission is $25, plus tax. For more information, visit cafeats.com.
