Kedar [rating:2] (2/5 stars)
Jessica Lynn Carroll (Caroline) and Devion McArthur (Anthony) in the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of I and You by Lauren Gunderson, running now through November 3 at Marin Theatre Company . Photo by Ed Smith
I AND YOU: Drama. By Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen. Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941. (415) 388-5208 or www.marintheatre.org. October 10 – November 3, 2013.
I and You at MTC needs work.
The adage “there’s trouble in River City” did come to mind when Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis informed the audience before the show began that this production is first of four “rolling world premieres” of I and You and intimated that there would be changes made. Also in a local newspaper fluff piece interview of the author she admitted that during rehearsal, at the suggestion of the cast, she excised significant blocks of dialog. It might be possible that those cut are the reason there is an abrupt change in the tenor of the play that seems artificial.
Gunderson has received accolades for her other plays, three of which are playing locally, and the dialog in I and You attests that those accolades are warranted. However she must share some of that credit with Walt Whitman’s poetry.
It is a two character play with disparate teenagers thrown together in a class project to deconstruct Whitman’s poetic autobiographical “Leaves of Grass” by discussing his meaning of the pronouns “I” and “You.” It is a very blatant ploy by Gunderson to give universality to the personal relationship evolving between the protagonists. Henri Bergson’s concept of relative time is suggested since their project is due the next morning.
Those two are chronically ill semi-recluse Caroline (Jessica Lynn Carroll) and talented basketball player Anthony (Devion McArthur). The author adroitly introduces the troubled background of the pair with believable dialog as the relationship changes from antagonistic to empathy ending with understanding in a cataclysmic ending.
Whereas Caroline who is white is immersed in her stuffed turtle doll, Elvis Presley movies and photography, African-American Anthony is a saxophonist enamored with John Coltrane and Walt Whitman. Anthony’s unexpected arrival in Caroline’s attic bedroom is met with hostility but his patience gradually turns Caroline’s taciturn nature into an agreeable partner adding depth to their assigned project. Before that stage is reached there are the expected and unexpected serious bumps on the road to understanding. A couple of those bumps are very dramatically directed by Sarah Rasmussen but her chore is difficult because the storyline lacks cohesion. This may change on the play’s journey through three more “rolling world premieres.”
Jessica Lynn Carroll gives a believably fine performance changing from a frightened unlikeable teenager to a compliant partner as she becomes engrossed in Whitman’s poetry and Anthony’s subtle persistence. Devion McArthur, who was imported from the New York theatrical scene, is new to Marin Theatre Company but one would hope it will not be his last visit to the Bay Area.
Michael Locher’s magnificent set of Caroline’s attic bedroom complete with the trappings expected of a teenager is a beauty but may be superfluous overkill for this problematic 80 minute play that may be better served with a more moody ambiance to accentuate the surprise ending.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com.
