LIVINGSTON — Livingston’s Blue Slipper Theatre will be showcasing themes of life, death, and cosmic existence all in its last performance of “I and You” this weekend.
"'I and You' is written by a super awesome playwright named Lauren Gunderson. I would say, shortest version is it’s about two teenagers getting together to work on a Walt Whitman essay, an assignment for school," says Sarah Sherman, the show's director.
"But it’s very much about them slowly starting to connect, really being opposite types at first and thus learning a lot about human nature and human connection."
Sarah has a background in film but "I and You" is the first theater performance she’s had the opportunity to direct. She says the community has been very welcoming of her into the arts scene.
"The culture here, I’ll give a shout-out to Livingston because that’s where I live, but Bozeman as well, is so supportive of the arts, it’s really beautiful," Sarah says.
This comedic, intimate drama portrays the strange beauty of human connectedness through themes of youth, love, and even chronic illness.
Sarah gives credit to the actors for their depiction of the roles: "We’ve spent the last six weeks really working and focusing intently on like how present can you be with each other, how much can you strip this material down, how grounded can you be, how truthful can we be? And our actors Gabe Tormen and Tammy Renner have just risen to the occasion so beautifully."
And for literature fans, the writing of Walt Whitman is cleverly intertwined into the story’s plot.
Sarah says, "I feel like it substitutes language for the characters at times that they can’t necessarily come up with it themselves. So, they open up the book and they read a weird passage. But by the end of the play, we see that the themes they’re discussing are really relevant to kind of what happens with them."
For a heartfelt story with some emotional twists, you’ll want to see this show.
The last performances of "I and You" will be from May 17 through the 19th.
Visit the Blue Slipper Theatre's website for more details.
