Wait, Harry Styles is my inner demon?

Every semester, the student-devised theater group NOMADS highlights the work of budding playwrights in their Wordplay readings. These are staged readings of a twenty-minute excerpt from each play, allowing us in the audience to get a taste of what may become a mainstage production in the future. The theme for this semester was Generation, and the scripts chosen to be read ranged from musicals, to comedies, to dramas while sticking to the idea of exploring one’s identity. The student-written works were as follows: Inner Styles by Ava Roberts (CC ‘25), Hunters by Lily Kuhn (BC ‘25), Fish Out Of Water by Lucía Towne (BC ‘26), A White Girl’s Understudy by Isabel Tongson (BC ‘26), and The Last Star by Allison Su (BC ‘25). The subjects of each of these shows could not have been more different than the other, keeping the audience on our toes as the directors and actors for each reading brought us into the new worlds devised by our peers.

Inner Styles was the only musical of the readings, and was extremely fun to watch as the actors ran to and from different chairs and sang their hearts out to songs they only had two rehearsals to learn. Directed by Ida Gutierrez (BC ‘26), the show begins with a number sung by Alanna (Brooks Gillespie, BC ‘25), who is having a panic attack that is coordinated by her celebrity crush, Harry Styles (Jessie Rollins, CC ‘26). Both the songs and dialogue written into this moment are hilarious and was a great opening to the show, allowing all the characters to be introduced as Harry Styles explains why Alanna is having said panic attack. The song goes on to explain that Alanna is stuck on her ex, Axel (Ariana Eftimiu, BC ‘25), while also being interested in a new boy, Connor (Tosin George, CC ‘27). Her mother (Sylvie Oldeman, BC ‘25) and an ensemble of other people in her life (all played by Leticia Gorberg Valdetaro, BC ‘27) add to the chaos in her mind, and the song ends with her fully panicking over every aspect of her life. Three more songs from the show were performed, each very catchy and also carrying the story along well. The excerpt shown at Wordplay ends with Alanna unsure of her feelings toward both her ex and new love interest, while also being stuck in Omaha with her mother due to the news of the COVID-19 pandemic. A very topical and relatable subject for many, Roberts did a beautiful job composing each of the songs and Gutierrez staged the show in a way that had the audience truly feeling the emotions of Alanna through her conflicted mental state. And, of course, sassy Harry Styles was there, so what’s not to love?

Next up was Hunters, directed by NOMADS president Frankie DeGiorgio (BC ‘24) and written about a young archaeologist, Mareike (Emily Djohan, SEAS ‘26) who is doing a dig for Neanderthal bones in rural Germany. Set in the archaeological dig sight, the first scene is between Mareike and her apprentice, Reena (Luna Cuming Shaw, BC ‘27), which sets up the background of the story as we learn that the two are working in Mareike’s own hometown. The rest of the reading was then set in a small cafe in town, run by Jannes (Siddharth Ananth, SEAS MS ‘24), where Mareike runs into her coworker and friend Gert (Eftimiu) who is already drinking by noon. The two exchange a fun conversation, and Reena comes in after packing up the dig sight. She and Jannes seem to flirt a little bit, and it is revealed that Mareike actually used to babysit Jannes as a child. Another woman, Karin (Thais Velazquez, BC ‘26), has been present in the cafe the entire time and has some sort of unresolved relationship with Mareike that is not made entirely clear by the end of the reading. The script of the show incorporated multiple different relationship storylines with such a small group of characters wonderfully and also incorporated parts of the German language, adding an extra layer of cultural relevance to the story. Overall, DeGiorgio and Kuhn created a compelling story through both staging and writing and it will be exciting to see if this show is ever produced as a mainstage.

Fish Out Of Water was one of the more comedic plays that was submitted to Wordplay this semester, following the story of a young woman, Sylvie (Molly Greenwold, BC ‘26), who is celebrating her 21st birthday by purchasing her first bottle of alcohol. Directed by Noel Ullom (BC ‘27), the excerpt is staged in a way that had the actors sitting on the floor, rather than chairs like the other readings. The shop owner, Damian (Jessie Rollins, CC ‘26), is the only character who stands throughout the entire show as he refuses Sylvie’s purchase since her time of birth is further in the night than it is currently, not technically making her 21 yet. Sylvie chooses to stake out in the store, hence why she sits on the floor, until she is able to make her purchase. She is a bit of a lonely woman, and eventually reveals to Damian that she does not have anything planned for the night of her birthday and is much happier to just be in his store waiting to be able to purchase her bottle of alcohol. Halfway through the reading, the store is held up by a 13-year-old boy with a nerf gun. Shane (Colleen Bahan, BC ‘27), fails at his robbery due to the falsity of his gun and sits down with Sylvie on the floor, much to the annoyance of Damian. The two force him into more conversation, and as Damian becomes more irritated as an elderly lady, Lou (Allison Letterman, GS ‘24), comes into the store to get tequila and margarita mix. When she realizes she cannot afford the tequila, she dejectedly sits on the floor with Sylvia and Shane and they all express sorrow in their individual scenarios. The reading ends with a strange bond forming between Damian and his three squatters, giving a heartwarming ending to a very funny show. Towne’s voice shines through in the dialogue, which is written with intense detail and charisma. A cute story that can warm anyone’s heart, it will be exciting to see where Towne goes with her next work.

Written by Wordplay veteran Isabel Tongson (BC ‘26), A White Girl’s Understudy discusses the harsh reality of being a person of color in theater who is always looked over for roles in favor of a White actor. Directed by Anoushka Sharma (BC ‘27), the play is about the heartbreaking tale of Lyn (Esther Lee, CC ‘25), who plays the understudy to major actress Sienna (Jasmine Richards, BC ‘26) in a Broadway show. Lyn has never gone onstage, as the bold and snooty Sienna always allows her own show to go on before letting Lyn take the stage. Sienna’s boyfriend and leading man, Ben (Jack Rado, CC ‘27), knows Lyn through a former teacher and holds a caring relationship with her, which Lyn may wish to be more. However, she is put down by the fact that she will never be given the same opportunities that are given to White actors in theater, a sentiment shared by her friend Andrew (Henry Nuñez, CC ‘27) who is the understudy to Ben. They lament about the tragedy of having to work harder than others in their industry, exemplified by Lyn revealing that Andrew used to be called Andre before Julliard told him he would have a better chance of being cast if he had a “White” name. This conversation is interrupted by Taylor (Alex Prezeau, BC ‘24), the chaotic stagehand who informs Lyn that she may have to go on tonight for Sienna since it seems Sienna has fallen ill behind the wings. Andrew and Lyn are ecstatic about this idea, and spend time getting her ready for her Broadway debut. Her dreams are crushed, though, by stage manager Bo (Bella Williams, BC ‘26) who states that Sienna is feeling fine and going back on. Bo feels for Lyn and offers the comfort that the world “isn’t ready for her yet.” The reading ended on this melancholic note, with Lyn’s pain palpable throughout the audience. Tongson has yet again written a beautiful show that discusses such a timely and prevalent subject in theater today, and Sharma created a beautiful staging that did justice to such a greatly written show. 

The last reading of the night was of The Last Star, directed by Grace Cai (BC ‘27). A story of familial and social difficulties juxtaposed by a love for piano, the protagonist Elaine (Martina Liu, BC ‘25) navigates her life without a father or many friends. Her mother (Tiffany Hwang, BC ‘25) does not speak a lot of English and has a seemingly romantic relationship with a man who is not her husband, a piano teacher named James (Melañia Horowitz, CC ‘26). She takes her daughter to get piano lessons from him, and in doing so we watch Elaine grow up into a fantastic piano player, though she does grow very antisocial due to this. Her teacher (Abby Jack, BC ‘25) encourages her to step outside during recess instead of playing the piano, but Elaine insists she has to practice and even prefers it due to not getting along with the other kids. This stems from the fact that as a child, Elaine was made fun of for the shape of her eyes by a young boy in her class. From then on, she does not hold a close relationship with anyone her age and her only companions are her mother and James. The reading ended with Elaine finally making a friend out of a boy she used to know from choir, Adrian (Olympia Gonzalez, BC ‘25), and we get a sweet ending to the story. Throughout the reading, writer Allison Su was able to play the piano whenever Elaine was supposedly playing, and this added a great sense of realism to the piece as well as showcased Su’s talent and obvious knowledge of the subject she wrote about. 

Wordplay was a terrific event and it was so fun to be able to see shows that may one day be performed in full on the Columbia stage or perhaps even further. Every playwright, director, and actor worked so hard on this process and great props are given to them for taking a new piece of work and running with it. Stay tuned on the NOMADS socials for information about seeing Wordplay next semester, or if you’re a writer yourself look into submitting for next semester as well!

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