College students are no strangers to periods of procrastination, late-night study sessions, early morning classes, and existential crises about what’s next after college — and these situations are perfectly brought to the stage in the off-Broadway play All Nighter. Starring The Sex Lives Of College Girls lead Alyah Chanelle Scott, Grammy Award winner Kathryn Gallagher, Bottoms star Havana Rose Liu, Tony Award nominee Julia Lester, and Looking For Alaska’s Kristine Froseth, the play is a funny and heartfelt letter to female friendships and the college experience.
Set in an old ballroom, All Nighter is all about testing the limits of friendship, which showcases the five girls holing up to have an all-night finals cram-sesh together. However, as the hours pass, their little gathering gets deep, as the girls question their honesty toward one another and explore how terrifying the end of college can be. “It’s funny — that’s something that I feel like people don’t expect when they read the description,” Scott tells Her Campus exclusively. “It’s hilarious, it’s heartfelt, and it’s nostalgic. There’s something about it that just reminds you of a very specific time in your life, and you have so much empathy for that time.”
Written by Natalie Margolin and directed by Jacki Bradley, All Nighter allowed the cast to draw from their own experiences, both from college and their own female friendships, to bring their characters to life. “[College] is a time in your life when you need connection so deeply,” Gallagher says. “That need for connection, for friendship, for understanding, at that time in life is something I haven’t really seen so eloquently and devastatingly put into theater.”
Though Gallagher may not have gotten the full college experience — she dropped out of the University of Southern California due to her growing theater career — her unique journey allowed her to bring a level of vulnerability to her character, Jacqueline. “I always look back on that experience [because it’s] what happened right before I entered ‘the real world,’” she says. “And in the play, there’s a lot of language about when the real world begins and when we enter the real world.”
Scott also used her experience as an undergrad at the University of Michigan to connect with her character, Tessa. “What I knew I could understand [about Tessa] was the feeling of being a senior in the final week of college,” she says. “There’s something so specific about the energy of that time. You’re projecting that you’re ready [to leave college] and internally, you’re sh*tting your pants. You’re scared, and there’s this weird balance of needing to feel and project that you’re hyper-confident, but also underneath it all being like, ‘I have no idea what the rest of my life is going to look like.’”
She continues, “I really remember that time period, so when we do this show, that lives very close to the chest. It’s exactly what [our characters] are experiencing and why this night matters so much to them.”
For college students, the stress, fear, and anxiety around finals season can feel overwhelming. And for an actor, taking in those emotions and displaying them in such a vulnerable way — on a stage with no cameras, no cuts, and a live audience watching your every move — may seem like an incredibly daunting task. (Kind of like completing your final exam, come to think of it.) However, when it comes to All Nighter, the inclusive support system within the play’s cast and crew makes dealing with that pressure a lot easier. “I just feel so held and taken care of and safe in this space, which is rare,” Scott shares. “I think it’s because it’s a group of women, so I’m loving it.”
Gallagher agrees. “Most of my career — actually, almost exclusively all of my career — has been in projects written or directed by or produced by women or queer people, so I feel very held.”
With the months flying by (can you believe it’s February?) and the world continuing to spin, many college students may be feeling the pressure of “What’s next?” However, both Scott and Gallagher have some advice for college students, or anyone, moving on to their next chapter. “I remember being 21 and being like, ‘It’s all over for me now,’” Gallagher says. “I wish I knew at 21 how it was to make mistakes and how much most of the mistakes you make don’t matter at all. In fact, you need to make them in order to grow into the person you’re going to be. F*cking up is the most important thing you can do right now.”
And while it may seem impossible, Scott believes that empathy and compassion, with yourself and with others, are the keys to navigating the unknown — including impending post-grad life. “We can be so cynical sometimes, and I urge you to continue to practice compassion and continue to practice empathy,” she says. “I urge you to continue that outside of college and into the world, and find community in that way.”