“The Black Snowman” runs from Jan. 31 to Feb 23. Production photo courtesy of SteppingStone Theatre

This weekend, SteppingStone Theatre opens its revival of “The Black Snowman,” a play written for the company in the late 1990s by Deborah Torraine, with  music by Gary Rue, based on a children’s book by Phil Mendez.

The story: Jacob Miller thinks “everything black is bad.” An African-American boy whose family struggles to make ends meet, he associates blackness with the grind of urban poverty: the worn second-hand clothes his mom picks up for him, the tiny apartment he shares with his mother and brother, the dirty slush that gathers along his street instead of fresh white snow. His little brother Peewee doesn’t share his disillusionment – not yet, anyway. And he convinces Jacob to build a snowman with him from the road-blackened snow around their apartment building; they finish by wrapping the snowman’s shoulders in a colorful bit of cloth they find discarded nearby. It turns out, their “scarf” is in fact a magic storytelling cloth, a kente worn by a powerful African storyteller whose spirit passes into the black snowman, bringing it to life as a griot who spins vivid tales for the boys about Africa’s brave warriors and elegant queens, told in songs, dance and drums.

SteppingStone’s production will be set against a backdrop of live performances of African music, dance and drumming. It’s being remounted in honor of Black History Month and as a tribute to the playwright, who died in 2011.

“The Black Snowman,” a play by Deborah Torraine based on a book by Phil Mendez, with music by Gary Rue, will run from January 31 to February 23, at SteppingStone Theatre, 55 Victoria Street North, St. Paul. For more information, visit www.steppingstonetheatre.org/shows/detail/the-black-snowman.