'Long Since Yesterday' touches audience

Six talented actresses crossed the border between pretending and reality in an outstanding opening performance of the African American Arts Alliance production of P.J. Gibson's play, Long Time Since Yesterday, in the the Studio Theatre of the Annenberg Center last night. "These women were the characters -- they weren't students performing," said Wharton senior Bill Roberts, a producer of the play. Filled with both humor and pathos, Long Time Since Yesterday tells the story of five successful, thirty-ish black women who are reunited after attending the funeral of their college friend Janeen -- played by College freshman Fatima Nelson -- who has committed suicide. Although each of the five characters claim to have loved Janeen, their interactions with each other are anything but harmonious. Except for the low-key, quick-witted Alisa, hilariously portrayed by College senior Erica Armstrong, confrontations between the characters abound. Particularly fierce are the exchanges between Janeen's two closest friends, Laveer, stellarly played by theatre veteran Denise Long, a College senior, and Panzi, portrayed by College senior Jahmae Harris, who have been at odds with each other since a falling out at their college graduation. Harris's tense gestures and intense facial expressions bring her performance as the sharp-tempered, bitter Panzi to a professional level, even though Long Time Since Yesterday is her theatre debut. Also gracing the stage for the first time is College senior Nancy White, who tickled the audience with her hysterical portrayal of Babbs, a sophisticated alcoholic TV news anchorperson, who has not been with a man in "exactly nine months and 13 hours." Crump said he was able to sculpt these theatre novices into convincing actresses by typecasting. He said that during auditions for the play, he was able to sense which actresses best resembled the characters. Audience members who knew the actresses agreed that the characters were "typecast." "Each of those voices blend together to make an orchestra on stage," he added.