I & You

One afternoon, Anthony arrives unexpectedly at classmate Caroline’s door bearing a beat-up copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, an urgent assignment from their English teacher. Homebound due to illness, Caroline hasn’t been to school in months, but she is as quick and sardonic as Anthony is athletic, sensitive, and popular. As these two let down their guards and share their secrets, this seemingly mundane poetry project unlocks a much deeper mystery that has brought them together. I and You is an ode to youth, life, love, and the strange beauty of human connectedness.

“…sharp and funny. Gunderson taps into a buoyant spirit…the touching ‘barbaric yawp’ of these two deeply engaging kids.” —Washington Post.

“By the close, Gunderson has guided us toward a sublime transfiguration that encompasses Leaves of Grass, John Coltrane, Jerry Lee Lewis, space and time, bodies and spirits, death and rebirth.” —The New Yorker.

“…a validation of the human experience, and of the triumph of life over death. Gunderson’s gift is the best thing a play can offer: we might be better people after seeing it.” —DC Theatre Scene.

_{Image by Yingying Zhang.}