“I and You” at Portland Stage offers healing, hope and the beauty of human connection

An ode to youth, life and love, using the words of Walt Whitman, the music of John Coltrane, and more, I and You by Lauren Gunderson can be a showcase for its starring pair. In this case, actors Sarah Lord and Pascal Arquimedes, alongside director Cait Robinson, sat for a conversation at the end of a day of rehearsals. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Molly Adams: How do you describe this play to your friends who haven’t seen it?

Pascal Arquimedes: It’s about two teenagers, so it’s a coming-of-age drama. They get to know each other through it, but they also cope with this trauma: what does death mean to them? How do they deal with it? Then there’s a big plot twist.

Sarah Lord: A big twist. And don’t forget the turtle!

Cait, what is getting you excited as you get closer to opening?

Cait Robinson: To me, it’s a virtuosic play. It’s about the two actors and their relationship and their skill. So the most exciting part of my day is watching them do what they do. It’s a great acting show, a great relationship show.

What is it like to go back to high school through these characters? How similar are you to Anthony and Sarah?

Arquimedes: Strangely, Anthony and I have a lot in common. We both played basketball, were good in class, always positive, outgoing, a little awkward with girls.

Lord: Caroline and I don’t have much in common. I can definitely relate to her—she’s introspective, likes to read. She’s artistic, but with crafting, visual things, which is not my jam. And she has a lot of stuff going on, which thankfully, I have never had to manage.

Sarah, you’ve been on the Portland Stage mainstage quite a bit—”Loman Family Picnic,” “Iphigenia and Other Daughters,” off the top of my head. Can you talk about growing up acting in Portland?

Lord: I honestly learned just about everything I know from doing theater here, starting with Children’s Theater of Maine and the Mad Horse Theater Company, which at the time had a children’s ensemble. We got a ton of training and then I started doing “A Christmas Carol” at Portland Stage. So it’s an amazing growth opportunity, the whole city of artists being able to learn and grow and push each other.

And you’ve gone on to do film and television, Pascal too. What brings you back on stage?

Lord: In film, you do it piecemeal, which is definitely a skill but there’s something about telling a story from beginning to end, every single night, every single time. You feel it as though it is happening to you in the moment, which it is.

Arquimedes: I saw my first play freshman year of high school. I didn’t think I liked that stuff because I was a jock type of a dude. But I had to see the school play for a class, “Twelve Angry Men” well, Jurors, now, and I watched it and like, “Oh, I feel feelings. I feel a fire in my chest. Why, these people are screaming, laughing, crying! I need more of this feeling!” Theater is where actors can really flex their muscles and hone the craft that is storytelling, hitting the front row and the back of the theater with the same energy. Working in the bigger team to do the thing for an hour and a half or for three acts and trusting in that— it’s exhilarating.

Cait, what are some things that you were interested in exploring and bringing out of the text in this play?

Robinson: I’m always interested in stories about healing and about hope. These are two people who are at the beginning of their lives and at the end of their lives at the same time, in a certain way. It’s sad, but it’s not cynical. It’s a play about people who can be together in very painful moments and with so much loss and so much grief and so much loneliness. Because of the pandemic, I think that’s a beautiful offering right now.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.