“I and You” at Black Box Theatre features Adrienne Jane and Michael Alexander.

The Black Box Theatre in downtown Moline will open the dramedy “I and You” by Laura Gunderson – an area premiere — on Thursday, July 15.

The plot: One afternoon, Anthony (Michael Alexander) arrives unexpectedly at classmate Caroline’s (Adrienne Jane) door bearing a beat-up copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, an urgent assignment from their high-school 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” (first performed in 2016) is an ode to youth, life, love, and the strange beauty of human connectedness.

Starring in the area premiere are Michael Alexander, who had previously been in the Black Box production of “War of the Worlds,” and Adrienne Jane, who recently finished a run of “Princeton’s Rage” at Playcrafters Barn Theatre.  Directing is Kayla Jo Pulliam — who has starred in two Black Box productions (“Turn of the Screw” and “Love, Loss and What I Wore”). Set design by Lora Adams, construction by Michael Kopriva, costuming by Jacqueline Isaacson and lighting design by David Miller.

“We produced Laura Gunderson’s play ‘Silent Sky’ several seasons ago and we are delighted to, once again, premiere one of her plays here at the Black Box,” said Adams, Black Box Theatre’s co-founder.

Adrienne Jane was featured in Playcrafters’ recent “Princeton’s Rage,” with Gary Talsky.

“By the close, Gunderson has guided us toward a sublime transfiguration that encompasses ‘Leaves of Grass,’ John Coltrane, Jerry Lee Lewis, space and time, bodies and spirits, death and rebirth,” according to a New Yorker review.

DC Theatre Scene called it “a validation of the human experience, and of the triumph of life over death. Gunderson’s gift is the best thing a play can offer: we might be better people after seeing it.”

The Black Box Theatre is at 1623 5th Ave., Moline.

“I and You” runs July 15 through 24 — Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., in the Black Box at 1623 5^th Ave., Moline. Tickets are $13 on Thursdays and $16 all other performances, available online at theblackboxtheatre.com.

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Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner -- who has called the Quad Cities home since 1995 -- has decades of experience as a professional journalist and pianist. His experience writing for daily newspapers, public radio and local TV encompasses a wide range of subjects, including the arts, politics, education, economic development, historic preservation, business, and tourism.

Jonathan most loves writing about music and the arts (which he now does as a freelancer for the River Cities Reader and Visit Quad Cities). He has a passion for accompanying musicals, singers, choirs and instrumentalists, including playing for QC Music Guild's 2023 productions of RENT and SWEENEY TODD. He is assistant music director and accompanist for the spring 2025 Music Guild show, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. He wrote an original musical based on The Book of Job, which premiered at Playcrafters in 2010. Jonathan penned a 175-page history book about downtown Davenport, that was published by The History Press in 2016, and a travel guide about the QC published by Reedy Press in 2022.