Since graduating, Alyssa Peters (Stage and Screen Performance, 2022) and Josh Hammond (Stage and Screen Performance, 2019) have carved out vibrant and diverse careers across screen and stage. Now, they’ve reunited to bring Lauren Gunderson’s moving two-hander I & You to life on stage as part of Belvoir St Theatre’s 25a programming. Their shared history as NIDA alumni, and now co-producers, has fuelled a deeply collaborative and heartfelt journey with this project. In this interview, they reflect on their characters, creative process and the lessons from NIDA that continue to shape their work.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to since graduating NIDA? Are there any projects that you’re particularly proud of?
ALYSSA: Since graduating from NIDA, I’ve been a part of some very exciting projects! Some of these include the ABC series House of Gods, directed by Fadia Abboud, two incredible independent feature films, Carnage for Christmas and The Serpent’s Nest, both directed by Alice Maio Mackay, Unfair Verona with Glassroom Theatre Company, directed by Eezu Tan and The Strong Charmion with Flight Path Theatre, directed by Jess Ramsey (Directing, 2023). I will also appear in the upcoming third season of Channel 7’s Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Aside from these fantastic projects, I spend my time working at NIDA and at Sydney Theatre Company (STC), where I get to meet and work with some of the most wonderful people and creatives in the Sydney scene.
JOSH: I have been fortunate to work on a number of wonderful projects with brilliant people since graduating DSSP. Pinchgut Opera’s Farnace directed by Mark Gaal (Directing, 1984 and NIDA’s Deputy Director of Learning and Innovation ) at the City Recital Hall was my first professional theatre gig which I was able to learn so much from in terms of craft and the day-to-day rehearsal process. I recently wrapped on a lovely feature, Haven’t You Heard? Everyone Hates Me, directed by Charles Jazz-Terrier, CIMP Entertainment, which was shot locally in Sydney by a fantastic team of creatives.
I also graduated from UNSW in 2024 with a Bachelor of Media (Screen & Sound Production) which equipped me with many of the skills I utilise as both a filmmaker and actor regarding making your own work. I can highly recommend anyone to get multi-skilled in this industry! Furthermore, to get a job at an arts institution like the Sydney Opera House or NIDA, both of which I work at.
What drew each of you to I & You? Was there a moment when you read the script and knew you had to be part of this story?
ALYSSA: I remember reading I & You for the first time over a year ago and immediately falling in love with it. We are both ex-DSSP (Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance) students, and our glorious teacher, Garth Holcombe approached us in the NIDA foyer, suggesting we get together and workshop a two-hander play. We shortly began reading and researching two-handers until we came across ‘I and You’ by the incomparable Lauren Gunderson. Josh had sent it to me, and I sat myself in the NIDA library one day and read the play from start to finish and was totally captivated by the beautiful characters of Caroline and Anthony and the wonderful journey they go on together. This play is about young people for young people, and we were eager to tell this story. Also, without giving too much away, there’s a scene where the characters talk about their star signs; Caroline is a Virgo and Anthony is a Taurus. And it just so happens they have the same star signs as us, so I was like “WE HAVE TO DO THIS PLAY, THIS IS A LITERAL SIGN FROM THE UNIVERSE.”
Please tell us a bit about your characters in I & You and how you have approached the emotional tightrope of a show that balances humour, heartache and existentialism.
ALYSSA: Caroline is a witty, sassy and prickly teenage girl. She does not take any prisoners and is ready to fight if need be. She is chronically ill with a liver disease that has caused her to stay at home and not attend school. Although Caroline’s life is frustrating, she deals with it through her dry humour and not allowing it all to affect her too much. Balancing the emotional tightrope of her character has been challenging but rewarding. I am personally someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, so it was really interesting for me to explore a character who uses different types of defence mechanisms to deal with the underlying problem. I have loved bringing life, joy, nuance and humour to Caroline, and she has taught me so much about life and how to live.
JOSH: Anthony is a jazz-loving jock with a passion for basketball, poetry, and squeezing all the juice out of life. He exhibits such wisdom for a 17-year-old in how he extrapolates the multitude of life lessons Walt Whitman weaved through his life’s work, Leaves of Grass. What I love deeply about his character is his stubbornness. He refuses to be classified as any one thing, or to yield in the face of existentialism. He sees the world with such wide eyes and isn’t satisfied with simply existing, he wants to live, and this shines through during his first meeting with Caroline. In a world which is currently so rife with uncertainty, it is easy to fall into despair, so it is a joy to spend time with a character who believes there is good out there, and it is worth fighting for.
The entire play takes place in one room with just the two of you on stage. How has that proximity shaped your dynamic as performers and what has it been like collaborating with fellow alumni?
It has been a wonderful, different and unique experience to work on a two-hander play that takes place in one location. This play is a marathon, it’s athletic in every way possible and we were so keen to take on the challenge. Neither of us has ever done anything like this before, so we have been absorbing and learning new things in every rehearsal and locking in skills we can absolutely use in future projects. We have such an incredible and talented team that has supported us and guided us along the journey, some of which are NIDA alumni!
Being able to work with Garth Holcombe (Acting, 2006) and to have his knowledge and wisdom about making theatre and the industry in general has been invaluable. Jo Bradley (Directing, 2024) has been a fantastic assistant director on this project and so wonderful to work with. She constantly has fresh ideas about the scenes and the characters and is always open to play! Saint Clair (Technical Theatre and Stage Management, 2021) and Jessica Pizzinga (Technical Theatre and Stage Management, 2022) have contributed an outstanding lighting, sound and set design for this show. It is something beyond what we ever imagined, and we are so grateful to have them on board. As well as our wonderful costume designer Emily Brayshaw who is doing WONDERS!
What has been the most challenging and most rewarding parts about stepping into the roles of Caroline and Anthony in I & You?
We have been working towards getting this show to the stage since January of 2024, so it will have been about a year and a half of consistent passion when we finally open in May at Belvoir St. Theatre. We have learned so much about endurance as both actors and producers, to have spent so long with one project and these two characters. As producers, we have constantly switched hats between all the different processes required to go from first meeting our lovely writer Lauren Gunderson, to putting our wonderful creative team together led by the brilliant Claudia Barrie, to assessing marketing strategies and approaches ahead of time. As actors, so much of our fiveweek rehearsal process has been about staying open and fluid with the characters and story, given just how long we have sat with them for. That has been both extremely challenging but very rewarding as young artists.
As NIDA alumni, what tools or lessons from your training have you found yourself returning to during the rehearsal process for this show?
So much! This show is a two-hander with no interval, so there is a particular amount of endurance and focus required from us both to keep the ball in the air over the course of the play. We still use many of the physical and vocal warm-up exercises we learned from our brilliant tutors at NIDA, which are the building blocks of effective rehearsals as an actor. Furthermore, this play delves into many highly emotional places. When you are searching inside as an actor to access these parts of yourself, the craft you learn at NIDA gives you both the tools to do so as well as the structure and awareness to take care of yourself while you push your limits.
I & You is on stage at 25a Belvoir St Theatre from 6 – 18 May.