For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. Walt Whitman
I and You, an utterly fascinating two person play, inspired by Walt Whitman’s poems in Leaves of Grass, opened at Theater Schmeater this weekend. The author, Lauren Gunderson, is currently the most produced playwright in the U.S., having won numerous awards; judging by this play, the awards seem well deserved. Varsha Raghavan, who played Caroline, is possibly the most accomplished actress currently working in Seattle.
The author wasted no time with excessive exposition, as soon as the lights came on, the action started. A teen-age girl, Caroline, in her pajamas, screams as an uninvited and unexpected teen-age boy, Anthony, played by Josh Kenji, appears in the doorway of her bedroom. Ostensibly, he is there to work on a joint project for an English class about the use of pronouns in Whitman’s poems; however, the two get sidetracked and engage in a dramatic verbal pas-de-deux.
Initially, Caroline is like Katherine in Taming of the Shrew, sarcastic and combative, which bewilders the long suffering Anthony and the audience is puzzled as to why he hangs around, except that he has procrastinated on the project, which is due the next day. As they discuss the poetry, musical tastes, life, death and hobbies, they condense all the stages of a relationship into 90 minutes, only to have a strange supernatural twist at the end.
With Caroline and Anthony it is definitely not love at first sight. After initial repulsion, the two take tentative steps to get to know each other, followed by real human connection as they reveal their vulnerabilities-she has had a liver disease most of her life and is a shut-in. Just when they start to fall in love and Caroline at least wants to continue a relationship, Anthony confesses an insuperable impediment.
Along the way, the author captures all the angst, insecurity, cockiness, awkwardness and exuberance of adolescents, in the most amazingly authentic hyper-contemporary dialogue. Varsha Raghavan’s ability to deliver that dialogue with incredible comic timing, lightning quick changes of emotion and superb facial expressions revealed genius. She captured the exact intonation patterns of current “Teenspeak” and was thoroughly enthralling.
One reason the exposition was so swift was because the set spoke volumes. Designed by Pallavi Garg and Swati Srivastav,
it was definitely a teenager’s bedroom; but not any teenager, there were little clues (a basket of crocheted hats, origami, bottles of pills) scattered here and there, letting the audience know that this girl was not exactly an extrovert trying to get an athletic scholarship.
Director Agastya Kohli deserves credit for keeping up a lively pace; a 90 minute 2 person play is not easy to direct, but the pacing was swift and he kept the actors focused. Josh Kenji, who played Anthony, was a little bland, but when you think of a pas-de-deux, the male ballet dancer is only supposed to be there to support and show off the ballerina, rather like the consort of a Queen, and not detract attention from her.
As far as the plot twist at the end of the play, for someone as unfamiliar as I am with Walt Whitman’s poetry, it did not seem as well foreshadowed as it could have been, although it was believable. I imagine that the foreshadowing was in the poetry which Anthony recited.
I heartily recommend this play. We have all been teen-agers, and it speaks to their universally confused condition with wit and compassion; but also chooses a contemporary milieu, complete with social media. Also, Seattle audiences do not see such exquisite performances that often.
I and You. by Lauren Gunderson. Pratidhwani & Theater Schmeater, (Co-Production) Theater Schmeater 2125-3rd Ave, Seattle, 98121 Belltown. Thu, Fri, Sat 8 pm. Thu Nov 3. Tickets https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3560351. Info: www.schmee.org