In his final Yale production, Brennan Columbia-Walsh asks how to cherish the life you’re already living.
Playbill for College Play. (Credit: Evelyn Hernandez Chico)
Evelyn Hernandez Chico
Staff Writer, The Buckley Beacon
It is not often that one is asked the question, can a playwright change the world?
On a small stage in the Off-Broadway Theater in New Haven, College Play, written and directed by Yale senior Brennan Columbia-Walsh, attempts to provide an answer. College Play, which debuted on February 11, 2026 and ran until February 13, 2026, narrates the lives of five Yale College students.
Act One, focuses on a day in the life of students Brennan Columbia-Walsh, Leo Greenberg, George Baily, and Oleg Laskov, who all are in the class of 2026 and played themselves. Another student, Marty Bukowiec, was played by Yale senior Eason Rytter ‘26. Columbia-Walsh begins by narrating their lives on November 1st, 2024. Their morning routines in their 17 Edgewood Ave apartment spring to life as the roommates argue over who gets to shower first. From there, they proceed to bicker over if Brennan’s girlfriend, Maisie (played by herself), should pay rent, the presence of a monkey named Simon (played by Daniel Pustilnik ‘28), an unsightly Kate Moss poster, and a deck of cards laying on a table ready for a game of bridge.
The act continues by depicting a class led by an eccentric English professor (played by William Barbee ‘26), a theater class led by passionate Professor Deborah Margolin (played by Talia Namdar-Cohen ‘27), a Conservative Party Debate, and an interview with the Dean of Yale College (played by Emma Fusco ‘26) addressing Yale’s spot at the end of the alphabet as a possible explanation for the university’s exemption from funding cuts.
Act Two transitions to fourteen months later, unfolding on the students’ graduation day, with this comedy quickly giving way to emotional reflection. Right before the commencement ceremony, each character delivers a monologue in which they reflect on their Yale experience and their anxieties for the future. Marty goes first, expressing his regret over not having participated in the traditions that typify the Yale experience, as well as not having left a mark on campus life.
Brennan’s monologue follows, where he reflects on the moments where he wrestled with God. George’s monologue differs from the previous two, scoffing at the foolishness of thinking that one must have it all figured out at the young age of 22. Leo’s monologue reveals feelings of anxiety despite having taken advantage of what Yale has to offer, whereas Oleg cherishes his liberation after a life that’s felt “scripted.” At the graduation ceremony, the dean, teachers, and Brennan’s mom (played by Columbia-Walsh’s real mother, Meg) reflect on this life transition.
Finally, Act Three fast-forwards to 10 years later on December 3rd, 2036. The friend group is no longer tightly knit; it is only after Marty’s death that they reunite like old times. After a scene in which Marty posthumously reconciles with his death, the remaining characters reminisce on their college years at the funeral. After George suggests that the group return to 17 Edgewood Ave, the play concludes at the place where they had once enjoyed their cereal breakfasts, played bridge, and carved their initials on the apartment wall.
The full house audience appeared fully engaged in and captivated by the story’s profundity. They laughed at the comedic moments and were reduced to silence when characters’ vulnerable moments revealed to be universal. During the graduation monologues, an elderly audience member lowered his head and closed his eyes, appearing to ruminate on the words.
In an exclusive interview, Columbia-Walsh told the Beacon that College Play had originated out of a semester-long writing process as part of the Creative Writing concentration in the English major.
“The intention that I had going into that process was to try to capture some part of the essence of what it has meant to be a Yale student,” said Columbia-Walsh, “in particular what it has meant to share the friendships and the delightful relationships that I’ve been fortunate enough to share here.”
Regarding his decision to write a play centered on his personal relationships, Columbia-Walsh added, “People can’t possibly be captured in any serious way through dramatic biography. However, I think that the dramatic form lends itself well to capturing some of the broad strokes of personality that individuals have. I decided to try to take the people whom I love the most, my dear friends, my girlfriend, my mother, and my favorite professors and try to put them down on the page. So, the inspiration in that sense was an instinct that theater, or the dramatic form, rather, can honor these kinds of relationships by capturing what was most personal about them.”
He noted in particular how special it was to act alongside his mother. “It was an unbelievable dream to act with my mom on stage. That was really a gift. And she proved a fabulous actress.”
As to what Brennan hoped the audience would take away, he declared: “The divine moments at Yale are the quotidian moments – the everyday moments.”
College Play conveyed to the audience just that. In experiencing the personal, unique aspects of the Columbia-Walsh’s experience, whether that be attending Yale Political Union debates, toiling away at a coffee shop, dining at Commons, or wandering through Cross Campus, the audience found a greater appreciation for those “quotidian,” “divine” moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Within the small confines of the stage of the Off-Broadway Theater, College Play aimed higher than just the Yale College experience. It sounded a clarion call for appreciating the menial moments not just at Yale, but in the grand sweep of life.
Brennan Columbia-Walsh has produced a poignant reflection on the past four years which beckons the audience to join him in appreciating our bright college years before it’s too late. To return to the first question: College Play answers yes, a playwright can change the world, at least for this audience member.