I And You NYC Reviews and Tickets

"I won’t reveal the unexpected ending, but it’s brilliantly produced nonsense that follows a common trope found in too many movies and TV shows; it's also the most outrageously manipulative, unearned, big reveal in any play I’ve seen in years. Ms. Gunderson’s iterations of teen-speak are fun; her playwriting, though, stumbles, with too many forced dramatic crises or revelations...its characters lack authenticity, its structure is artificial, and its conclusion is off the charts."
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"The acting and directing in the New York production are competent, the design team does wonders in the relatively small stage of 59E59 Theatre A, and the playwright has something profound she wants us to take out of the theater. But just knowing there is a surprise ending, yet not knowing what it is, provides a narrative suspense that propels us through the seemingly aimless patches."
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"Even though the show practically put me to sleep, it earnestly accomplishes what it sets out to do...The young actors display an easy rapport with one another but they've been given a big job to do…Despite the fact that both actors are reprising performances they've given in previous productions they're only partly successful, struggling with the subtext of the piece and compensating by trying too hard to be ingratiating, as though sensing the restlessness of the audience."
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"'I and You' is an intricate, humorous and profound work whose delicate metaphorical undertones echo in one’s mind long after the lights go up…The dialogue is clever and thoughtfully rendered. For the most part the direction is well paced, though in the middle there was a tell-tale dead spot that lulled the import of the conversation between the characters…This valley was compensated for by the play’s spellbinding conclusion."
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"It’s got the snarky dialogue that hides the pain…Ferguson and White do their best at whipping those collections of quirks into actual human beings, but they don’t quite get there...The inconsistencies and over-familiarities nearly bring the whole tottering structure down. But—and it’s a big but—the play pulls out that wowser of an ending that I guarantee you won’t see coming and you almost, almost leave the theater thinking you’ve seen something really cool."
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"The performers’ abundant charm can’t overcome the script’s shortcoming in 'I and You,' Lauren Gunderson’s tedious comedic drama about two high schoolers...His straightforward, surface approach only exacerbates the play’s failings. And although the big revelation at the end succeeds in pushing emotional buttons, it’s little more than a gotcha moment, which, in retrospect, renders the preceding spectacle even more vacuous."
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"The majesty of Whitman’s language thoroughly shows up the inanity of the discourse between Caroline and Anthony...Throughout 'I and You,' something stirs beneath the banal surface...'I and You' may feel overlong (at 90 minutes, yes, overlong). So what? The end of the play has such impact, it’s well worth wading through the setup, to get gobsmacked by the finish."
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"While sustained heightened energy in a play can be intriguing and even thrilling, for 'I and You' it’s ultimately too much of a good thing...The cast deserves commendation for their efforts – each actor puts everything they have into their roles. This fierce commitment to going all out would have benefited from some restraint...While the much-buzzed about plot twist is inspired, its impact is diminished by all the frenzied pacing."
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