Audrey Kolker '25, playwright and director of "Treadmill Play," strives to bring humor and heart to the Saybrook Underbrook via three treadmills, yoga mats and a fast-paced production.
In her upcoming role in "Treadmill Play," Meridian Monthy '25 will deliver many of her lines while jogging on the treadmill.
From Nov. 7-9 in the Saybrook Underbrook, Monthy will play Natalie, a first-year college student from Michigan learning to navigate relational conflicts. Written and directed by Audrey Kolker '25 and produced by Carson White '25, the play is spliced into vignettes that tell the friendship of two college girls and the emotional arcs that test their camaraderie. Each scene lasts minutes, if not less, and is set entirely at the gym where the two girls meet.
According to Monthy, her character Natalie is a "total bitch."
"She's a blabbermouth," said Monthy. "She comes into college desperately to make friends, as many of us do, but she doesn't know how to distinguish true friendship from someone that will just listen to her. She is someone that talks a lot about herself, is constantly getting negative feedback, but keeps justifying it."
She said that her role as Natalie couldn't be more different than Monthy herself. According to Monthy, Natalie is possessive and obsessive when it comes to her friendships and romantic endeavors.
In her role, however, Monthy tries to show grace and accept that Natalie's character represents the flaws in communication that plague most young adults.
"She has these biting lines about her own insecurities that are so relatable, and in the way she's discovering herself, I myself have been on that journey with her," said Monthy.
Calling Kolker a "dear friend," Monthy first read the script for the "Treadmill Play" in the Johnathan Edwards gym -- before Kolker formally decided to direct it. Her immediate reaction to the script was that it mirrored her own experiences living at Yale and was "really, really funny."
"I have acted in lots and lots of plays," Monthy said, "but this one feels the most naturalistic. When I first read it, what stood out to me was that it reached a deep level of truth without being pompous or magisterial. There are just some lines that cut really deep, and it's been a treat to watch it grow since its inception."
On the Yale College Arts website, the play has a rather sparse description: "blood, sweat, love, fear, and the 12-3-30 workout, as seen on TikTok."
The 12-3-30 workout is a social media trend that caught virality during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its seemingly simple approach to weight loss. In the workout, one walks for 30 minutes on a treadmill set to a speed of three mph at an incline of 12.
Monthy, who will spend "80 percent" of the play doing a similar workout, said that the routine is far from easy. Acting while on the treadmill, though, has allowed her to embrace the breadth of emotions playing Natalie commands.
"It was really a breakthrough for me," Monthy said, "because the treadmill let me get into this hyperventilating mode where I could reach another place as an actor and feel the physicality of [Natalie's] anxiety."
Monthy said that enduring this rigorous acting process, along with Audrey's instruction and vision, offers a sense of "finding comedy in life" that differs from most other Yale dramas.
Additionally, she cites the crew's chemistry and sense of humor as the reason for the production's smooth sailing thus far. At their dress rehearsal, this past Tuesday, this chemistry was more than apparent.
"Just pour the water on her," instructed Kolker to Monthy mid-scene.
In this scene, Natalie communicates her grievances to her inattentive friend, Sophia -- played by Kellina Brennan '26. Sophia lays face down on a mat and appears preoccupied with her yoga-adjacent workout. In a fit of frustration, Natalie pours a generous amount of water on her head.
In the first run-through, Monthy mimicked the action with a closed water bottle before Kolker instructed her to do the real thing. Upon Brennan actually being doused, the crew erupted in laughter, including Brennan herself.
Isaac Mukamal '25, who plays the role of 'Boyfriend,' sat in the audience and laughed at the display. He said that the way in which the cast has gotten along and laughed is 'fantastic' and a testament to Kolker's 'genius.'
"The writing of this show is unbelievably lifelike and funny," Mukamal said. "It's so, in a way that is fun to play and also drives a stake into your heart because of how real it is."
"Our interactions are visibly awkward, funny, and ridiculous a lot of the times," said Calaway Swanson '25, who plays 'Guy on Phone Super Loud' and 'Guy Natalie is Obsessed With.' Swanson, Mukamal and Monthy expressed their hopes for the play's modern and naturalistic elements to catch audience members off-guard and encapsulate the Yale experience.
"I hope [attendees] come away thinking more about the everyday interactions that we take for granted or don't," Mukamal said. "Oftentimes they're funny, oftentimes they're meaningful, but most importantly, I hope they learn to engage with them while prioritizing themselves and their mental health."