The Prisma Health Fringe Series is generously sponsored by

Prisma Health

C E N T R E S T A G E

proudly presents

March 22-30, 2022

By Lauren Gunderson

DIRECTOR
KEVIN TREU

Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

Produced by special arrangement with playscripts, inc. (www.playscripts.com) 

Centre Stage is funded in part by a grant from the Metropolitan Arts Council, which receives funding from the City of Greenville, SEW Eurodrive, BMW Manufacturing Company, LLC, Michelin North America, Inc., and the South Carolina Arts Commission with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. This project is also funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

CAST

SARA TOLSON.......CAROLINE

GUILLERMO JEMMOTT........ANTHONY

PRODUCTION TEAM

KEVIN TREU……DIRECTOR

LEE MCCASKILL……STAGE MANAGER/SOUND DESIGNER

BETH MARTIN..........VOICE OVER ARTIST

TJ HILLS.....................LIGHTING DESIGNER

SPECIAL THANKS

Centre Stage would like to thank Kim Keefer, Ellie Pence, Miles Rogers, Ben Turner, Regina Turner, and Paul Hyde of the Greenville Journal. We appreciate everything you do! 

“I and this mystery here we stand.”

With Walt Whitman’s poetic words, our play begins.  These two superb actors bring to life the story of Caroline and Anthony – a story that is, I believe, first and foremost about connection.  Their connection is powerful and touching … and also mysterious.  They stand together because of a shared project, and also common interests, goals, and dreams that they discover in themselves. But there is yet something deeper at the heart of their connection, which is what makes this play truly special.

Connection – I suspect that many of us have occasionally longed for connection during the isolated times of the last two years. I felt the loss of live theater deeply, in large part because of the connectedness that it brings.  We see it portrayed between characters, as in I And You, but theater is so powerful because it fosters human connection in other ways as well.

As audience members we find ourselves connected to the characters portrayed on stage. Tonight you might see in yourselves the loneliness and fear that is felt by Caroline and Anthony, and also the courage, insight, and selfless love.  That is a powerful connection indeed, from which we can learn much about ourselves.

And theater forges connections among us as well. In the fall of 2018 I had the privilege to co-direct a semester-long study away trip to the British Isles with a group of Furman students. Several of us attended the UK premiere of I And You at the Hampstead Theatre in London, and to this day the bond formed by the singular experience that we shared together that night continues to connect us.

I hope that you will be inspired by the mystery of Caroline and Anthony’s connection, that you will feel yourself connected to them on some level, and that you will find the experience something that bonds you with fellow audience members.

--Kevin Treu, Director