I And You
Closed 1h 20m
I And You
67%
67%
(122 Ratings)
Positive
53%
Mixed
31%
Negative
16%
Members say
Cliched, Quirky, Clever, Slow, Absorbing

About the Show

The night before a class assignment is due, Caroline and Anthony plumb the mysteries of a Whitman poem, unaware that a deeper mystery has brought them together.

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Critic Reviews (32)

The New York Times
January 27th, 2016

"Cynics might see Caroline and Anthony as descendants of two notorious cultural stereotypes...The performances, while lively and in the moment, don’t go far in contradicting this assessment...If you believe that the end justifies the means in play writing, then 'I and You' could be described as a success. Its conclusion is genuinely shocking, on several levels, and does a lot to explain any inconsistencies that may have annoyed you before."
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Time Out New York
January 29th, 2016

"About halfway through, you give up hoping that an offstage, oft-mentioned mom will suddenly appear, and you become aware of how much playwriting skill it takes to keep an audience focused on a 90-minute two-hander that is basically an attenuated sketch...The actors are lively and likeable...I wanted to care more about them or else spend 15 minutes less in their presence. No 'gotcha!' denouement can substitute for restlessness."
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New York Magazine / Vulture
January 27th, 2016

"I’m not sure which is more dispiriting: the play itself or what it says about the theatrical scene in the hinterlands...'I and You' isn’t at all dumb — rather, it tries too hard, like the two teenagers who are its only characters, to wear its intelligence insouciantly...What we were supposed to care about is not what’s really been going on; 'I and You' is a classic bait-and-switch, with about as much profit to the hapless audience."
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New York Daily News
January 28th, 2016

"As written, acted and directed, the two-character drama comes off as really phony…Over 80 minutes of teenspeak…By the play’s end, preceded by a pull-the-rug-out turn, all is revealed. As if that explains and absolves the clanging script and clunky artificial performances guided by director Sean Daniels...Some may see Gunderson’s construction and 11th-hour shift as a heart-warming payoff. My take: it’s a cop-out. No mystery, there I stand."
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NY1
January 28th, 2016

"While the twist ending explained quite a lot, the unnatural shifts in tone and extreme reactions would have worked better if we had had some hints of the revelation to come. Director Sean Daniels delivers an otherwise stirring production...Gunderson recognizes that adolescence is itself a sort of twilight zone, and Whitman's cosmic poetry fits right into her themes. It's a compelling enough conceit that dramatically shouldn't have needed a bombshell to make it fly."
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Theatermania
January 27th, 2016

"Gunderson has written an extraordinarily compassionate work with a shock most won't see coming…Director Sean Daniels creates an enormously sensitive production that is befitting of the script, with two vivid, believable performances at the center….Admittedly, there are a few heavy-handed elements in the play...But those qualms can mostly be overlooked. Big-hearted and simple, 'I and You' is one of the most life-affirming plays you'll currently see onstage."
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BroadwayWorld
January 29th, 2016

"Don't miss the New York Premiere of this award-winning play that is meticulously crafted by renowned playwright, Lauren Gunderson...'I and You' is an original and absorbing play that is an important work of modern theater...The two actors bring the perfect tone to this extraordinary play...'I and You' is a play like you've never seen before."
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Lighting & Sound America
January 28th, 2016

"'I and You' isn't unpleasant, and at times it offers flashes of insight, but structurally it is a bundle of contrivances that doesn't begin to earn the emotional knockout punch that it wants to deliver. Like her characters, Gunderson has a little more homework to do."
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