Reviving ‘Yesterday’

From the Greek classics to Marsha Norman’s “ ‘night Mother,” playwrights have been intrigued by the whys and wherefores of suicide. Even today as the debate rages over teen suicide and whether there is a right to die, the subject still seems to be fascinating.

P.J. Gibson’s “Long Time Since Yesterday” is not often produced. But after a reading two years ago, the 1985 drama gripped producer Shirley Butler. Her revival opens this weekend at the Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood.

In it, five women confront the self-inflicted death of a friend--and then confront each other. As the characters look for answers, they turn on one woman whom they suspect had something to do with their friend’s despair.

Yet Butler, who also appears in the play, says suicide is not the main subject of the play.

“It’s about choices,” she says. “Life is what you make it, and all the things you go through help make you who and what you are. Not everybody can handle a lot of the choices they need to make.”

Director Wilson Bell also finds the script fascinating, especially in that the five women deal with the situation in divergent ways.

“I like challenging plays,” Bell says, “and allowing myself to commit to the world I find myself in with a particular text.”

The ensemble nature of “Long Time” demands that the actors be intensely familiar with one another. On stage there can be no doubt that they are lifelong friends, Butler says. In order to establish that quality, the actresses bonded offstage during the rehearsal period.

“It was very important to me that we spend time together, get to know one another, and not just get on stage pretending to be friends,” Butler said.

The method has precedents, most notably in the work of the Group Theatre in the 1930s. Before a production they would spend the summer together working at a resort. This cast has done the same thing. They went out dancing together, and dining, and even took a trip to Nevada. As Butler explains, they wanted to see each other first thing in the morning. They wanted to work out being grumpy with each other, and happy together.

This closeness is necessary among the actors because each has an individual response to the tragedy. But neither Bell nor Butler are willing to judge the character’s suicide. Bell says the author suggests that this is not the best way to handle a situation.

“It’s about why she committed suicide, and about what it does to the people around her. You can see what effect her death has on them, but more interestingly, what her life could have done for others.”

BE THERE

“Long Time Since Yesterday,” Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday. Ends Sept. 7. $15. (213) 466-1767 or (818) 953-9993.