New Federal Theatre In Association With ASP Presents A Staged-Reading Of P.J. Gibson's LONG TIME SINCE YESTERDAY

New Federal Theatre (NFT), Elizabeth Van Dyke, Producing Artistic Director, in association with ASP/Castillo Theatre, will present a reading oof Long Time Since by P.J. Gibson, to benefit the Classix Collective. The performance will take place on June 27th at 7pm at Castillo Theatre (543 W. 42nd Street, New York, New York 10036).

The reading will be directed by Awoye Timpo recipient of a Drama League Award for Wedding Band...and founder, of the Classix Collective dedicated to exploding the classical canon through an exploration of Black performance history and dramatic works by Black writers. Tickets are a minimum donation of $10.00. To donate for tickets, go to newfederaltheatre.com

In the late P.J. Gibson's comedy-drama, some years after graduation, five collegiate friends, upwardly mobile members of the professional class, come together for the funeral of one of their classmates. Over bourbon and memories, tempers flare and guilt is apportioned. This play originally opened at NFT in October 1985 and won multiple AUDELCO Awards including Best Play. Long Time Since Yesterday is a NFT Classic. NFT will make a donation to the P.J. Gibson Memorial Scholarship for Creative Writers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

P.J. Gibson passed on May 6th, 2022 in New York. Gibson began her writing career at the age of nine. She is the author of 30 plays professionally produced and hundreds of poems. She has received two AUDELCO awards (Audience Development Committee) for her play "Long Time Since Yesterday," a Shubert Fellowship for the study of dramatic writing, a playwriting grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a PSC-CUNY research award grant (the Research Foundation of the City University of New York) to "shadow" four African-American female judges for her upcoming play "Rotating" and five playwriting commissions. In addition to the professional productions of her work in the United States, Gibson's work has been staged throughout Europe and Africa. She has also written television situation comedies for Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby.

Gibson holds an M.F.A. in theatre arts from Brandeis University and a B.A. in drama, religion and English from Keuka College. In addition to writing, she was an associate professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, teaching literature, English, fiction writing and poetry.

Awoye is a Brooklyn-based Director and Producer. Her New York credits include Elyria by Deepa Purohit (Atlantic Theater), Wedding Band by Alice Childress (Theatre for a New Audience), In Old Age by Mfoniso Udofia (New York Theatre Workshop), The Loophole by Jay Adana and Zeniba Britt (Public Theater), Carnaval by Nikkole Salter (National Black Theatre), Good Grief by Ngozi Anyanwu (Vineyard Theatre and Audible) and The Homecoming Queen by Ngozi Anyanwu (Atlantic Theater Company). Regionally she has directed The Bluest Eye (Huntington), Pipeline (Studio Theatre), Paradise Blue (Long Wharf), Everybody Black (Actors Theatre of Louisville), School Girls (Berkeley Rep), Jazz (Marin Theatre Company). Other projects include concert performances for independent artists and for the NBA, Ndebele Funeral (59E59, Edinburgh, South African Tour), "Black Picture Show" (Artists Space/Metrograph), and Bluebird Memories (Audible). Awoye is a Creative Arts Consultant for the African American Policy Forum and a Founding Member of CLASSIX.

New Federal Theatre (NFT) was founded by Woodie King, Jr. in 1970 as an outgrowth of a theater program called Mobilization for Youth. This neighborhood-based professional theatre was originally funded by the Henry Street Settlement along with a small grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. The theater's first season was launched in the basement of St. Augustine's Church on Henry Street. Several early successes brought NFT to national prominence: "Black Girl" by J.E. Franklin won a Drama Desk Award. "The Taking of Miss Janie" by Ed Bullins moved from NFT to Lincoln Center and won the Drama Critics Circle Award. "For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" by Ntozake Shange performed on Broadway for 10 months and was nominated for the Tony Award before embarking on a three-year national tour. It has subsequently been performed regionally and around the world. Both plays were co-produced with the late Joseph Papp. Many performers have benefited from early successes on NFT's stage, including the late Chadwick Boseman, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Phylicia Rashad, Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Issa Rae, Tyler Fauntleroy, P.J.and many more.

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