Lauren Gunderson Returning to 59E59 Theaters with I AND YOU

59E59 Theaters will welcome playwright Lauren Gunderson (Bauer) back to the 5A Season with NY premiere of her award-winning play I AND YOU, directed by Sean Daniels, and produced by Merrimack Repertory Theatre in association with Richard Winkler. I AND YOU begins performances begin on Friday, January 15 for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 28. Opening Night is Wednesday, January 27 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7 PM; Friday at 8 PM; Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM; Sunday at 3 PM. There is an added performance on Sunday, January 17 at 7 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues) Single tickets are $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit www.59e59.org.

Homebound with an illness, Caroline hasn't been to school in months. When her classmate Anthony unexpectedly arrives at her bedroom door bearing a copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, with an urgent assignment from their English teacher, the quick and sardonic Caroline meets her match with the athletic, sensitive, and popular boy. As these two let down their guards and share their secrets, this seemingly mundane poetry project unlocks a much deeper mystery that has brought them together. Featuring an ending that leaves audiences breathless, I AND YOU is an ode to youth, life, love, and the strange beauty of human connectedness.

I AND YOU comes to NYC direct from a critically acclaimed run at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, where it was called "funny and moving" and "startling enough to draw gasps" by the Boston Globe.

Reprising their roles from the Merrimack run are Kayla Ferguson (Radio Theatre's King Kong, Bus Stop at CENTERSTAGE Baltimore) and Reggie D. White (For the Last Time at the Clurman, Gunderson's Exit Pursued by a Bear at Crowded Fire Theatre Company).

I AND YOU was commissioned by South Coast Repertory and developed at their Pacific Playwrights Festival in 2012. It became a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. The play won the Steinberg / ATCA New Play Award for 2014, was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and was published in full in the July 2014 issue of American Theatre Magazine.

The design team includes scenic design by Michael Carnahan (Skeleton Crew at Atlantic Theater Company); lighting design by Brian Lilienthal (over 250 productions at leading regional theaters across the US); costume design by Jennifer Caprio (Broadway's 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee); and sound design by David Remedios (regional credits include MRT, La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Stage, Centerstage Baltimore).

Lauren Gunderson (playwright) is the 2014 winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for I and You, featured in the July '14 issue of American Theatre. She has a BA from Emory University, and MFA Dramatic Writing at NYU's Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has been commissioned, produced and developed at companies across the US including South Coast Rep, The Kennedy Center, The O'Neill, Denver Center, Berkeley Rep, TheatreWorks, Crowded Fire, Marin Theatre, Synchronicity, Olney Theatre, Geva and more. Her work is published at Playscripts and Samuel French. She is a Playwright in Residence at The Playwrights Foundation, and a proud Dramatists Guild member.

Sean Daniels (director) has directed at Manhattan Theatre Club (NYC), Culture Project (NYC), The Kennedy Center, St. James (West End, London), Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva Theatre, Playmakers Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Alliance Theatre, Cal Shakes, Portland Center Stage, Southern Rep, Swine Palace, Neo-Futurists, Aurora Theatre, Crowded Fire, and at the Edinburgh Scotland Fringe. He is the Artistic Director of Merrimack Repertory Theatre, having just finished up as the Artist-At-Large for Geva Theatre Center, after several years at the Tony Award winning Actors Theatre of Louisville as the theater's Associate Artistic Director. Mr. Daniels is also the former Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director of the California Shakespeare Theater and before that spent a decade as the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Dad's Garage Theater Company in Atlanta, Ga.

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