Chanticleers Theatre is excited to announce an encore performance by Brian Copeland on Friday, October 6. Energized by his recent show entitled “Grandma & Me: An Ode to Single Parents”, which played to a sold out audience on Saturday, June 3, the award-winning comedian is back with his most famous one-man play, “Not a Genuine Black Man.”

In 1971, Fair Housing advocates considered San Leandro one of the most racist suburbs in America. CBS aired a special on the situation. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights conducted hearings. The next year, eight-year-old Copeland and his African-American family moved in. In an evening of laughter, tears and sociology, “Not a Genuine Black Man” is a hilarious and insightful look at Bay Area history and the ways in which our upbringings make us who we are.

After the show’s debut in 2004, the San Francisco Chronicle declared it to be “A beautiful mix of wry humor and heartbreak, indignation and inspiration, a singular story of extreme isolation that speaks to anyone who’s ever felt out of place.”

Copeland plays over 20 characters during the two-hour show, including himself, himself as an 8-year-old, his mother, his sister, his grandmother, his son, his father, his landlord, 3 policemen, 2 lawyers, his father, a waitress, a pastor of an all-white church, a hate-letter writer, two white teenaged racists and several irate neighbors.

Join us for this special, one-night only performance of “Not a Genuine Black Man”, and come see why it holds the record for the longest running solo show in San Francisco history! Tickets are $35 online and $40 at the door. Patrons can make purchases at chanticleers.org or call 510-SEE-LIVE (510-733-5483).

Chanticleers Theatre is a nonprofit community theater organization with a rich history dating back to 1948. Known as “Castro Valley’s Little Theatre in the Park”, the 99-seat playhouse is located in the Castro Valley Community Park right across from the Veterans Memorial and next to the children’s waterpark and playground.