Girl power and romance collide in NOMADS ‘Love Story’

“Ugh, if only I could ask Shakespeare what the hell he meant by this.” Though here uttered by director of the new play “The (Love) Story of Myrtle Willoughby and Willough Myrtleby (and the Neighbors)” Kate Lupica, CC ’11, this sentiment has most surely been shared by countless directors over the course of theater history.

Luckily for some of these frustrated Columbia directors, NOMADS (an acronym for New and Original Material Authored and Directed by Students) affords directors the unique opportunity to contact their playwright, since that playwright is a fellow Columbia student.

NOMADS is an on-campus theater organization dedicated to staging a new written work by either a Columbia or Barnard student playwright. This semester, that playwright is Cassandra Stroud, BC ’12, debuting her new play “The (Love) Story,” which discusses conceptions of love.

Since its inception in 2003, NOMADS has—according to its mission statement—worked to bring “expressive, imaginative, and challenging new theater” to Columbia and Barnard, produced entirely by students from the two schools. Though relatively new compared to such warhorses as the Varsity Show, NOMADS has already racked up a surprising list of accomplishments, namely sending shows to the New York International Fringe Festival and having them shown Off Broadway.

This semester, NOMADS returns from putting on musicals to putting on straight plays with “The (Love) Story.” Though the play’s story has largely been kept under wraps (Stroud declined an interview for this article, stating the play should speak for itself), Casey Hayes—who plays Myrtle—says the piece “explores the question of love and obsession.”

At the start of the play, Myrtle has been sitting outside Willough’s window for seven years, exceedingly and one-sidedly smitten with her. According to director Lupica, the interaction of Myrtle and Willough (the only two characters in the play) allows the piece to examine “what love is and where it comes from, or if there’s even a reason for love.”

If nothing else, the play’s all-female presence both on and backstage will be a breath of fresh air in today’s increasingly Mamet-riddled, male-dominated theater scene. “That [the female emphasis] wasn’t our goal,” Lupica explained, “but I loved the whole ‘girl power’ aspect.”

All those involved with the play insist that the piece focuses on love in general as opposed to the characters’ lesbian love. Hayes says Myrtle and Willough’s relationship is “not discussed in a ‘we are lesbian’ way.” Lupica expanded on this idea: “In popular culture today, it’s extremely rare to see a gay relationship about the actual romance as opposed to the couple being same sex,” she said. “This is love without a label on it.”

Hayes noted the fact that “NOMADS is a great outlet for kids who want to be playwrights to get their work on its feet.” But truly constructive criticism, the kind playwrights cherish, is only possible through the fresh perspective of an audience. Though Columbia and Barnard students are infamously busy and seemingly bombarded with a different on-campus theatrical production every week, Lupica stressed, “Supporting NOMADS and supporting the vision of NOMADS and of new student work is so important.”

And really, as Lupica said, “Everyone loves a good love story... well, this is more a (love) story.”