Lauren Gunderson's I AND YOU Continues Rolling Premiere at Phoenix Theatre, Now thru 4/13

Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis announces the NNPN Rolling World premiere of Lauren Gunderson's I and You. Opening tonight, March 13, 2014 in the Frank and Katrina Basile Theatre at the Phoenix, this show runs through April 13, 2014 and will be directed by Indiana University Bloomington Professor Martha Jacobs.

The National New Play Network (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, has named Lauren Gunderson's I and You its 38th Rolling World Premiere. It will receive three productions through the Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund in the 2013/14 season. I and You began its Rolling World Premiere at Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA, October 10 - November 3, 2013), followed by performances at Olney Theatre Center (Olney, MD, February 26 - March 23, 2014) and now at the Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis, IN, March 13 - April 14, 2014).

In I AND YOU, one afternoon in your town, Anthony arrives at Caroline's door bearing waffle fries, a beat-up copy of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" from Leaves of Grass, and an urgent assignment from their high school lit teacher. Living most of her life online, Caroline is sick and hasn't been to school is months, but she is as quick and sardonic as Anthony is athletic and popular. As these two let down their guards and share their secrets, this seemingly vanilla poetry assignment unlocks a much deeper mystery that has brought them together. I and You is a valentine to youth, life, love, and the strange beauty of human connectedness.

I and You is a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn prize, which annually honors outstanding new English-language plays by women. "We are, as always on track with current events, trends and hot playwrights," stated Phoenix Theatre Producing Director Bryan Fonseca. "This is a prestigious award and of course, a very worthy play."

Lauren Gunderson is an award-winning playwright living in San Francisco. She studied at Emory University and NYU's Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has been produced and developed at companies across the US including South Coast Rep (Emilie, Silent Sky), The Kennedy Center (The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful And Her Dog!), Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks, Crowded Fire, San Francisco Playhouse, Marin Theatre, The Magic, Actors Express, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, Second Stage, Impact Theatre, The Lark, and The O'Neill. Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight is published with Sam French. The first and second plays in her Shakespeare Cycle, Exit, Pursued By A Bear and Toil and Trouble, are published with Playscripts. She is a Playwright in Residence at The Playwrights Foundation, and a proud Dramatists Guild member.

CAST

(in alphabetical order)

Anthony........... Eli Curry

Caroline........... Katharine Shelton

Martha Jacobs will be directing. Martha's Phoenix credits include: Sophie, The Housewives of Mannheim; Sylvia, End Days; Nancy Shirley, Frozen; Jackie, Jackie: An American Life; Sophie, Florida; and, Bessie, Marvin's Room. She has acted with: Edinburgh Festival, GeVa Theatre, Gloucester Stage, IRT, Brown County Playhouse, and Oasis Productions. As a director at the Phoenix: My Name is Asher Lev, Well, The Action Against Sol Schumann, Washington-Sarajevo Talks. She has directed for Cardinal Stage, IU, Phoenix Theatre and Bloomington Jewish Theatre. Martha is the author of A Meisner Legacy, Players Press, Inc.

In addition, the production staff for I and You includes Bryan Fonseca as Producer, Jim Ream as Set Designer, Jeff Martin as Lighting Designer, Tom Horan as Sound Designer, Ashley Kiefer as Props Master, Penny Sornberger as Costume Designer, Ashley Kiefer as Props Master, Ben Dobler as Audio and Electric Supervisor, and Chelsey Stauffer as Stage Manager.

Tickets for I and You are on sale now. The entire first weekend are CheapSeats performances, so tickets are just $18.00 per person. All remaining performances are $28.00 per person, or $18.00 for anyone 21 & under. Tickets for I and You may be purchased by calling the box office at 317.635.7529 or may be purchased on-line at phoenixtheatre.org. Group rates are available for this show - contact Sales Director, Ryan O'Shea, at 317.635.2381 or roshea@phoenixtheatre.org.

ABOUT THE PHOENIX THEATRE: The Phoenix Theatre is Indiana's only professional contemporary theatre, and has presented productions to challenge and entertain the Indianapolis community for 31 years. An Equity house, the Phoenix presents the Midwest and Indiana premieres of many popular Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, and has presented more than 85 world premieres. The Phoenix operates the 130-seat proscenium Livia and Steve Russell Theatre as well as the 65-seat cabaret-style black box Frank and Katrina Basile Stage. The Phoenix Theatre serves beer, wine, coffee, soft drinks, water, and treats. Patrons may take all refreshments into either theatre. Both venues are housed along with administrative offices in a renovated 1907 church in downtown Indianapolis' historic Chatham Arch neighborhood, part of the Mass Ave Arts and Theatre District. The Phoenix Theatre is a member of the National New Play Network and the League of Indianapolis Theatres, and is supported by the Indiana Arts Commission, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as local corporate and foundation funders and more than 400 individual donors.

Photo Credit: Zach Rosing