Boston University College of Fine Arts
School of Theatre Presents
By Lauren Gunderson
By Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Shira Helena Gitlin
Directed by Shira Helena Gitlin
Juliane Ethel Leilani Studio Theatre
Juliane Ethel Leilani Studio Theatre
College of Fine Arts 855
College of Fine Arts 855
Commonwealth Ave
Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215 Boston, MA 02215
The School of Theatre is overjoyed to welcome you to our 2025-2026 season. This year all of our work explores the themes of Renew and Reuse, an invitation for all of our resident theatre practitioners here at SOT to present work that takes a story or theme that may seem somewhat familiar, use the storytelling power of theatre to examine those themes anew. For some of our projects such as Dream this entails adapting a play that has been mounted perpetually since its first incarnations and re-shaping it to push the boundaries of live performance through its exploration of technology on stage, or, not so perpetual, such as Islander and its exploration of sound. For our many instances of new work–The Eleanors, Thumbprint, Calf Scramble, Flowers for Mrs. Harris, Flight, and our Next Stage Workshops and Springboards– this re-envisioning takes the form of new and emerging artists re-considering essential queries of what it means to be human during our brief period of time on this earth together. For pieces such as Top Girls, Fefu and Her Friends, 12 Angry Jurors, and contemporary adaptations of Roméo and Juliette, Medea and The Oresteia, this can mean rediscovering work by playwrights who have demanded audiences contemplate the forces that bind, or otherwise threaten to tear us apart. We are also delighted to revisit offerings that appear each year in our season–namely our collaboration with Boston University's Dance Theatre Group Aurora Borealis and Director’s Project. We hope, however, that you will experience all of our pieces as a celebration of community and collaboration, forces that have proven time again, to instill meaning not only in our work, but the processes that we share to bring that work to life.
Kirsten Greenidge Director of the School of Theatre, Boston University
ANTHONY CAROLINE Johnny Burrell Caleigh Howell
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/ STAGE MANAGER
PRODUCTION MANAGER
SCENIC DESIGNER/
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
LIGHTING DESIGNER
SOUND DESIGNERS
Yael Eliani
COSTUME DESIGNER
Hannah Whittington
Madeleine Guy
Alyssa Gonzalez
Joanne Tseng
Sam Haley
Danielle Best
ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER
ASSISTANT
PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN
PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
FACULTY ADVISOR
Bianca Akoa
Zola Gutierrez
Griffin Nedelka
Oren Alperin
Isadora Moon
Wendy Goldberg
Tori Sweetser
Special thanks to Allison Beauregard & Sean Sweeney for their help on this production.
Lauren Gunderson (PLAYWRIGHT)
Lauren has been one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015, topping the list thrice including 2022/23. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the winner of the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in Theatre Award,the Lanford Wilson Award and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She is a playwright, screenwriter, musical book writer and children's author who lives in San Francisco. She graduated from NYU Tisch as a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. LaurenGunderson.com
Shira Helena Gitlin (DIRECTOR)
Shira Helena Gitlin (they/them) is a Boston-based director, gender consultant, intimacy choreographer, and dramaturg. Select directing credits: Fun Home (The Burlington Players), Orpheus in the Overworld (Fresh Ink Theatre), The Normal Heart (New Repertory Theatre), Indecent (The Concord Players), For the Fish (Moonbox Productions). Associate/Assistant Directing: Little Shop of Horrors (Greater Boston Stage Company), All Shook Up (Reagle Music Theatre), The Prom (SpeakEasy Stage Company), Eat Your Young (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre). BU MFA Directing '27. For more information, please visit shirahelenagitlin.com.
JOHNNY BURRELL (ANTHONY) is thrilled to make his full-length play debut as Anthony in I And You at Boston University (BU). Johnny is a BU Acting major at the School of Theatre (SOT) Class of 2028, and an alumnus of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) Theatre Arts program. When he is not in rehearsal, you can find Johnny creating comedy with BU’s improv group, SponCom (Spontaneous Combustion), welcoming future students as an SOT tour guide, or attending classes. In addition to acting, Johnny is an aspiring playwright and screenwriter. He thanks his family and friends for their encouragement and support.
CALEIGH HOWELL (CAROLINE) (she/her) is a sophomore acting major from Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is excited to be making her official BU production debut with I And You. She would like to thank her parents and sister who have kindly purchased jackets and huddled together like penguins to come support her in foreign temperatures, as well as the endless inspiration she draws from her BU and hometown friends & people in everything she does.
Yael Eliani (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/STAGE MANAGER)
(she/her) is from Miami, Florida, and is an acting major in the Boston University School of Theatre Class of 2028. She has truly enjoyed taking on her role as assistant director on BU's lab production of I and You, and would like to thank her family and friends for all their support
Hannah Whittington (PRODUCTION MANAGER) (she/her) is a first-year MFA Production Management student. She has a BA in English and Dramatic Art from UNC Chapel Hill, and spent the last three years making theater abroad in Germany before coming to Boston. Last semester she worked on Flowers for Mrs. Harris as the Associate Production Manager, and she is now thrilled to be a part of the I and You team and to have the opportunity to creatively collaborate with her amazingly talented and generous cohort!
Sam Haley (SOUND DESIGNER) is an MFA Sound Design student from Grain Valley, MO She has earned a BFA in Design, Technology, and Stage Management, as well as a BS in Digital Film and Television Production, from Missouri State University. She would like to thank her partner, Matt, for his endless support and for moving with her to Boston while she pursues her MFA.
Madeleine Guy (SCENIC DESIGNER) (she/her) is a scenic designer from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina She is a M F A scenic design major and has recently worked as a paint charge at Ohio Light Opera for 2 years. She would like to thank her family and friends, both past, present, and future. She would also like to thank her silly, creative, and utterly awkward 2012 self.
Alyssa Gonzalez (LIGHTING DESIGNER) (she/her), originally from Houston TX, is an MFA Lighting Design student. She earned a BFA in Theatre, with a concentration in Technical Production, from Texas State University. Outside of school, Alyssa has worked for companies such as Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, ZACH Theatre, and PCPA: Pacific Conservatory Theatre She is so glad to have been granted this opportunity and wants to thank her sisters, parents, and friends or their never-ending support!
Bianca Akoa (ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER) (she/her) is a Lighting Design Major at Boston University, where she will be graduating in the year 2028. In her time at BU, she has been an Assistant Production Electrician for Emilia, The Eleanors, Flowers for Mrs. Harris, and The Oresteia, which is debuting later this spring. She would like to thank her family, friends, and professors for helping her to this point in life.
Joanne Tseng (SOUND DESIGNER) is a sound designer and songwriter from Taiwan, currently pursuing an M F A in Sound Design at Boston University. Recent works include "It’s Never Enough" (theme song producer) and "Graduation Trip" (sound design). She thanks her family, friends, and mentors for their constant support and for bringing so much joy to her life.
Zola Gutierrez (PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN) (they/she) is originally from Taos, NM but now lives in Florida. They are a Lighting Design major in the DP&M class of 2028. Some of her favorite shows she has worked on includes Apple Trees and Adams Eve and American Buffalo. She would like to thank her dad and the Squad for their support."
Danielle Best (COSTUME DESIGNER) (she/her) is a costume designer from Princeton, New Jersey. She is a MFA Costume Design student in Boston University's School of Theatre, and though she was worked the past production of Flowers for Mrs. Harris, she is delighted for her design debut with the production of i and you. She would like to thank her family and design team for all their support and creativity.
Griffin Nedelka (ASSISTANT PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN) (he/him) is from Dover, New Hampshire, and is a Design, Production & Management student focusing on Lighting Production and Design. Past professional credits include: Anything Goes, Sweet Charity (Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute), and HAIR, Bat Boy, Rock of Ages (Seacoast Repertory Theatre). He would like to thank his friends and family for supporting him while he chases his dreams.
liminality is a state of transition, in-betweenness, or being on a threshold. when you think of a liminal space, you might picture an airport, a train depot, or even a shopping mall. but what about a girl’s bedroom? i and you posits that merely existing as a teenager feels like a perpetual state of liminality. who you are is constantly changing, shifting, and transforming. your friendships and relationships feel like the most important thing in the world. for caroline, the decision to let anthony into her room might feel innocuous, but it kickstarts a journey that changes her life forever.
as we explored the world of this play, i kept returning to my own teenage years. much like caroline, i spent a lot of time in my room–listening to music, reading, drawing, and chatting with online friends. and like caroline, my bedroom was both my refuge and my fortress. and i wasn’t the only one–designers and actors alike shared their experiences, and so the physical manifestation of caroline’s bedroom became an amalgamation of all of our teenage years. our process of collaboration and experimentation mirrored the text; just like anthony, each member of the team left their mark.
i and you is about many things: grief, art, poetry, finding inner strength. but most importantly, its about the people who come into our lives and open our minds to new possibilities.
-Shira Helena Gitlin, Director
One afternoon, Anthony arrives unexpectedly at classmate Caroline's door bearing a beat-up copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, an urgent assignment from their English teacher. Homebound due to illness, Caroline hasn't been to school in months, but she is as quick and sardonic as Anthony is athletic, sensitive, and popular. 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. I and You is an ode to youth, life, love, and the strange beauty of human connectedness.
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