Subject: YOU / ME / US is a family story about two people trying to connect; former strangers, acting like teenagers.

Seven years and over 300 emails form the foundation of “Subject: YOU / ME / US,” a solo performance about an intergenerational queer relationship. Dixon Jarvis and Elly Jarvis are grandfather and granddaughter who have pretty much nothing to say to each other. Dixon, born 1924 in Detroit, is a conservative businessman who has voted Republican his entire life. Elly, born 1991, is a politically active feminist, who, after finishing her acting degree, moves to Berlin for a more “bohemian“ life. The two share little more than their common ancestry. Until 2015: Elly has her coming out as queer in Berlin and – shockingly – her grandpa does too. She is 23, he is 92.

To Elly this is a sign of magic – proving life to be much more interesting and surprising than she had originally thought. Elly and Dix, two former strangers, strike up an email correspondence about queerness and sexuality. “Subject: YOU/ME/US” is a window into their exchange – a plaidoyer for connection despite generational differences, while also a tale on the hurdles of boundaries in family settings.