The All-Nighter: A Play About College Life, Friendships, and Unfinished Business

Setting the Scene: The Tradition of the All-Nighter

The all-nighter—a rite of passage for college students and overworked journalists alike—is a timeless tradition that often comes with a mix of camaraderie, caffeine, and chaos. While the alone, frantic cram session is a common sight, the social all-nighter, where friends bond over shared exhaustion and desperation, is far more memorable. In Natalie Margolin’s play All Nighter, which opened at the MCC Theater, this concept is brought to life through a group of five college seniors navigating finals week in a rural Pennsylvania college. The play takes place in the Johnson Ballroom, a 24-hour student lounge, where these friends gather to study, reminisce, and confront their unresolved tensions.

The Characters and Their Dynamics

The ensemble of characters is diverse, each representing a distinct personality type often found in college friend groups. There’s Liz (Havana Rose Liu), the anxious and flustered one; Darcie (Kristine Froseth), the organized and ambitious future lawyer; Tessa (Alyah Chanelle Scott), the affluent and athleisure-loving student; Jacqueline (Kathryn Gallagher), the sentimental one clinging to her final college moments; and Wilma (Julia Lester), the eccentric latecomer who arrives in a flamboyant outfit. Together, they tackle their studies and the fallout from the previous night’s party, all while dealing with mysterious disappearances—Liz’s missing Adderall and Tessa’s lost credit card. The dialogue captures the quirks of female college friendships, from supportive affirmations to defensive posturing, but the characters often feel more like archetypes than fully fleshed-out individuals.

The Play’s Missed Opportunities

While the script effectively mimics the mannerisms and tropes of college life, it struggles to delve deeper into the complexities of its characters. The friendships feel underdeveloped, leaving the audience with a sense of superficiality. The play attempts to explore the fragility of these relationships—how they are shaped by unspoken hurts, enabling behaviors, and unresolved conflicts—but these themes are never fully realized. The resolution feels rushed, with a major reveal dropped awkwardly near the end, leaving more questions unanswered. The final metaphor about the morning symbolizing an uncertain future falls flat, emphasizing the play’s lack of depth.

Direction and Performances: A Mixed Bag

The direction by Jaki Bradley is uneven, with some scenes feeling disjointed. At times, the group splits into smaller conversations, with spotlights alternating between them, but the connections between these simultaneous moments are unclear. Despite these flaws, the cast delivers standout performances. Havana Rose Liu shines when portraying Liz’s vulnerability, and Julia Lester brings much-needed energy to the stage as the eccentric Wilma. Their performances are among the play’s highlights, even if the script doesn’t always give them enough to work with.

The Set Design: A Balance of College Life and Beyond

Wilson Chin’s set design is one of the play’s strongest elements. The Johnson Ballroom is depicted as both an insular, familiar space—complete with generic dorm chairs and notices for the “Spring Career Fair”—and a gateway to the broader world beyond college. The panoramic windows in the set evoke the vast, unknown future awaiting the characters, contrasting with the confines of their current environment. This balance reflects the tension between the comfort of college life and the daunting reality of adulthood.

A Promising Concept with Unfulfilled Potential

All Nighter touches on intriguing themes, such as the ways friendships can be both nurturing and harmful, and the challenges of accountability in relationships. However, these ideas are underdeveloped, and the play ultimately feels incomplete. It draws comparisons to sharper, more nuanced explorations of adolescence and young adulthood, such as Bottoms and The Sex Lives of College Girls, which also feature members of this cast. While All Nighter has moments of humor and relatability, it fails to leave a lasting impression. As the characters fret about productivity, the play itself feels equally unproductive, leaving audiences wishing for a more satisfying resolution.

In the end, All Nighter captures the chaos and camaraderie of a late-night study session but struggles to move beyond surface-level observations. With stronger character development and a more focused narrative, it could have been a compelling exploration of female friendships and the challenges of growing up. As it stands, it’s an incomplete but occasionally insightful look at college life—much like the all-nighters it portrays.