"NOT A GENUINE BLACK MAN"-BRIAN COPELAND

"In 1972, the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing called San Leandro, CA "a racist bastion of white supremacy." It was named one of the most racist suburbs in America. CBS News and Newsweek covered the story. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights conducted hearings. And then, we moved to town." - Brian Copeland

“With agility, Copeland plays over 20 characters in 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. He also fragments the narrative in time, flashing back and forth between his childhood and his current status as a successful performer, family man and business man. And he keeps it all together for the audience… The drama includes genuinely tragic moments relieved frequently with inside jokes. The show has range, turning corners abruptly, humor and success sharply juxtaposed with failure and depression. He is a talented comedian but this is not two hours of stand up. The man has a lived sense of the tragic.” —San Francisco Examiner

“In a region where solo stage shows are performed with regularity, ‘Black Man’ is the production to which all others must be judged. It’s that good, and that deeply ingrained in the theater scene.” - Mercury News

“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.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“A vibrant charge of original talent slices through ‘Not a Genuine Black Man’… the pin-drop silences elicited by Copeland’s depictions of violence and bigotry indicate a sage social observer… Copeland’s ability to captivate an audience rivals many a celebrated solo predecessor, from Ruth Draper to Spalding Gray to Whoopi Goldberg. This aspect, coupled with the clear-eyed view of racial realities, propels ‘Not a Genuine Black Man,’ because Copeland is a genuine discovery.”
—Los Angeles Times

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Host or Publisher Armando Diaz