“Director Claudia Barrie has done a lovely job bringing the play to life – the couple come together with thoughtful staging and some beautiful choreography…“
Julia Newbould
3.5 Leaves of grass
Venue: Belvoir 25A
Sydney
Dates: Until May 18
A pleasant meandering through leaves of grass.
I & You is an American coming of age rom-com with two young protagonists dancing around the ideas of friendship, romance, baring their souls and admitting to their dreams.
Written by Laura Gundenson who is, according to American Theatre Magazine, America’s most performed playwright, the play is American in origin but borderless in theme.
Walt Whitman and his poetry anthology “Leaves of Grass” is at the centre of this
teenage two-hander that sees Alyssa Peters and Josh Hammond playing Caroline and Anthony, teenagers thrown together over the need to complete a school assignment.
Caroline has missed a lot of school, due to being on the wait list for a liver transplant. Anthony is a jock who comes to her house with the assignment to prepare a presentation on Walt Whitman’s poetry for her class. When Anthony turns up unannounced to work on the urgent project, Caroline struggles with feeling she doesn’t need to, since she’s not currently at school, but also understanding that she must stay connected to the world and if the project is how she needs to do it, then this is a valid option.
Caroline is struggling with normalcy. She has been confined to her bedroom, with only her mum acting as her connection to life – bringing her sustenance on demand. She is struggling with her sense of self between being maudlin about her close proximity to death and her desire to live. Anthony is there to help Caroline return to her obligations at school and her promises of a normal life in the future.
Their relationship builds as Caroline and Anthony share their musical likes, their family lives, their hopes and dreams. Caroline is sarcastic and moody – going from bright and engaged to angry and aloof. Anthony is a popular jock with a sensitive side – with typical cool teenage likes of Whitman poetry and jazz.
Gunderson explores the metaphysical relationship between Caroline and Anthony through the different emotional states expressed in “Leaves of Grass”. The script is tight; humour balances pathos and her understanding of teenage angst and boundaries is spot on.
It’s a clever play and demonstrates why Gunderson’s plays are so regularly performed.
Director Claudia Barrie has done a lovely job bringing the play to life – the couple come together with thoughtful staging and some beautiful choreography and Peters has a lot of great dance moves on her own through the production.
As a typical Australian, my knowledge of Whitman is somewhat limited – I’m most familiar with O Captain, My Captain made famous by Robin Williams in the film Dead Poets Society (1989), but after seeing I & You and the rich descriptions of the flow, the subject, the emotions ascribed to the poetry, I’m definitely going to the bookshelf to find my Whitman.
Both actors were perfect in their roles covering young people finding love, life and special connections.
3 1/2 Leaves of Grass
Julia Newbould, Theatre Now
