THE LEGEND RETURNS

In honor of being selected for mainstage performance at the National Black Theatre Festival, the Billie Holiday Theatre will present encore performances of “The Legend of Buster Neal,” written and directed by Jackie Alexander.

The original cast, Charles Anthony Burks, Sidiki Fofana, Stephen Hill, Dennis Johnson, Patrick Mitchell, and Nathan Purdee, will return for all performances.

Brooklyn encore performances will run July 21-30 at the 200-seat Billie Holiday Theatre, Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn; Thursdays – Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 3:00 p.m., and Sundays at 4:00 p.m. The National Black Theatre Festival runs Aug. 1-6 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Billie Holiday Theatre producing director Marjorie Moon presented the world premiere of “The Legend of Buster Neal,” which opened March 3, 2011, and ran through March 29. Commissioned for Black History Month, when preview performances occurred, Jackie Alexander wrote the play in keeping with the Billie Holiday Theatre’s mission of presenting work relevant to African-American audiences.

“The Legend of Buster Neal” is the story of five generations of African-American men and their challenges. A powerful drama dealing with legacy, family, and how manhood is defined, the play opens with a flashback to the civil rights era, when Buster Neal is faced with a life-or-death confrontation that becomes a local legend.

Flashing forward to present day, his 17-year-old great-great grandson Marcus is dealing with modern urban issues – drugs, peer pressure, a broken family – while his father and grandfather disagree on the best way to raise him. When a bad decision creates consequences that Marcus can’t handle, Buster Neal arrives as a mysterious visitor to give his descendants a second chance.