Theater Camp: A Hilarious And Heartfelt Sendup Of Theater Culture
The eccentric staff of a rundown theater camp in upstate New York must band together with the beloved founder's bro-y son to keep the camp afloat.
If you combined Waiting For Guffman’s affectionate skewering of self-serious thespians with the campy absurdity of Wet Hot American Summer and added in a dash of Robert Altman’s improvisational spirit for good measure, you’d be close to capturing the essence of Theater Camp. Directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, who co-wrote the film with Ben Platt and Noah Galvin, this indie darling simultaneously satires and celebrates the insanity and creativity of theater kids and the larger-than-life characters that populate that culture. As evident from its hilarious trailer, there’s absurdity abound here, but for all its high-spirited eccentricity, there’s also a palpable sense of authenticity that firmly grounds it in its setting. In fact, one of the press material’s most surprising factoids is that nearly all of the scenarios in the film are based on things that actually happened, either to the film’s talented ensemble or their theater friends.
It should go without saying that this is a film designed by and largely for those with a heavy theater background, and while it will undoubtedly hit harder with theater nerds than the average bear, you don’t need to be well-versed in the stage or its craft to be tickled or charmed by Theater Camp’s wild and outrageous antics. A majority of the film’s characters come from the world in which it lovingly satires, so viewers with theater experience will have a lot to relate to, but the filmmakers also smartly broaden the film’s reach by including a few outsiders to the mix. These are Jimmy Tatro’s crypto-bro Troy and Ayo Edebiri’s clueless camp instructor Janet, both of which are imposters in their own unique ways. The fish-out-of-water perspective to these two characters give the audience another angle of entry and add a nice contrast that round out the film’s overall view.
Framed as a vérité-style mockumentary, Theater Camp opts for a purely observational approach that eschews the use of talking heads as a storytelling crutch. Its carefree and naturalistic attitude creates ample room for improvisation, which adds to its feeling of authenticity, and its snappy editing from Jon Philpot finds a nice balance between the scripted and the spontaneous. Like the best comedies, Theater Camp looks for opportunities in the unexpected, which is exemplified in an opening sequence that finds the faux documentary’s initial subject, Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris in a small role), falling unexpectedly into a coma in “the first Bye Bye Birdie–related injury in the history of Passaic County.” As opposed to shutting down filming, the “filmmakers” decide to continue the shoot where they capture the hilarious goings on of the AdirondACTS campers as they prepare for an original production about their comatosed founder and attempt to save the camp from foreclosure.
The campers are comprised of an extremely gifted group of both child and adult performers, who flex their dramatic and musical abilities for optimal comedic effect. There’s a menagerie of colorful characters on display here who all get an opportunity to shine bright, and each viewer is liable to walk away with their own favorite(s). For us, Noah Galvin’s Glenn the multi-talented stage tech and Alan Kim’s Alan the aspiring agent were two of our favorites. Molly Gordon’s Rebecca-Diane and Ben Platt’s Amos feel cut from the same cloth as Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper’s characters in Wet Hot American Summer, and for all intents and purposes, they’re the emotional center of the film. It’s through their relationship that the film explores the sacrifices and hardships that one makes in the name of theater, and they find ways to make this both funny and emotionally resonant.
Not all characters are given the same amount of screen time, and some are sorely underutilized. Edebiri’s Janet is the most obvious one out of the bunch that feels underused, but we also don’t get to know the younger campers in the same way we do many of the adults, which feels like a missed opportunity. The film’s documentary-style framing mines some hard-hitting laughs with the title cards that are sprinkled throughout, but it also seems to forget about some of its characters when tying up its narrative threads at the end (specifically, we’re given no info on Janet, which seems like an oversight). Perceived shortcomings aside, Theater Camp proves to be a hilarious and delightful experience that is sure to plant a smile on your face well before it reaches its big stage production of “Joan, Still,” which features some truly hysterical and unforgettable musical numbers.
Recommendation: If you’re a theater nerd or a fan of Christopher Guest-style mockumentaries, you should absolutely give Theater Camp a watch. It’s currently playing in select theaters, with a nationwide release on July 28th.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!