For the instructors and students who gather every summer at AdirondACTS Theater Camp in upstate New York, the camp isn’t everything — it’s the only thing. As the longtime teacher Rebecca-Diane says to the small group of pupils who have been cast in the camp’s showcase production, “You guys are so talented, so unbelievable, this will break you, this will fully destroy you.”
Wait, what?
It’s lines like that gem that keep “Theater Camp” from becoming too treacly, too precious, too much of an extended insider’s joke aimed only at those who are hardcore theater fans and/or spent some of the summers of their youth at theater camps. (I don’t think I even heard of a theater camp when I was growing up, although we would re-enact scenes from Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris movies in somebody’s backyard from time to time. I guess that was kind of theater camp-ish, eh?)
Born of a years-long collaboration by Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin and Nick Lieberman (which included a proof-of-concept short film), with all four writing the screenplay and Gordon and Lieberman co-directing, “Theater Camp” is an affectionate and winning yet sometimes bittersweet satire created by a talented quartet who clearly know the territory quite well. (As part of the backstories for their respective characters, we even see home movie footage of Platt and Gordon, who have known each since they were kids, performing together.)
Told in a mockumentary style, “Theater Camp” feels like a direct descendant of Christopher Guest’s 1996 cult classic “Waiting for Guffman,” with a little bit of the 2003 film “Camp” sprinkled in as well, as we’re introduced to a collection of theater-loving adults and children who might seem unusual or different to judgmental outsiders but have found a place where they can embrace their creativity and express themselves with joy and passion — a place called AdirondACTS. (We don’t see glimpses of the students’ lives during the regular school year, but we get the sense they cannot WAIT for summer and the return to theater camp.)
It would be something of an upset if we didn’t have Ben Platt in a movie like this, and Platt leans into his double-edged-sword persona of being insanely talented but also borderline irritating in the role of Amos, a senior counselor at the camp. Amos and his best friend and fellow counselor Rebecca-Diane (Gordon) didn’t get callbacks at Juilliard a decade prior, but they still dream, oh do they dream, of making that leap to performing.
After a stroke leaves the camp’s beloved founder Joan (Amy Sedaris) in a coma, it’s left to Joan’s clueless wannabe financial-bro son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) to take over the wobbly financial reins, while Amos and Rebecca-Diane collaborate with returning staffers including costume designer Gigi (Owen Thiele), dance instructor Clive (Nathan Lee Graham) and stage manager Glenn (Noah Galvin) in staging a number of productions, including an ambitious and original musical tribute to their mentor, titled “Joan, Still.” (She’s still Joan but she’s absolutely still, get it?)
Ayo Edebiri from “The Bear” (which also featured Molly Gordon in Season 2) has a brief but hilarious turn as a newcomer to the staff who talks her way into a gig teaching stage combat even though she literally doesn’t know what that is.
With so many characters to juggle, “Theater Camp” accords relatively short shrift to the kids, though Luke Islam, Alexander Bellow and Bailee Bonick demonstrate skills that indicate their characters may go further than any of the adults instructing them. At times, the editing and cinematography are a bit distracting in the efforts to remind us this is a “documentary” and thus, the cameras are sometimes out in the hallway or eavesdropping on otherwise private conversations.
Also, I have a couple of questions that remain after the obligatory “Where Are They Now” closing titles:
- Were Rebecca-Diane’s parents big fans of “Cheers,” naming her after the Kirstie Alley and Shelley Long characters?
- Is the brief subplot involving a nearby and wealthier camp a nod to “Meatballs” and Camp North Star’s rivalry with the snooty Camp Mohawk?
Still, “Theater Camp” is consistently funny and carries a bite, as when costumer Gigi says to a camper, “It says here you’re allergic to polyester. WHY?” or when Amos tears into Troy, explaining that the camp is for outsiders and those who never felt like they were a part of something, and then proceeding to tell Troy he doesn’t belong there — thus doing the exact kind of bullying he just railed against. Even the original musical numbers in “Joan, Still,” while utterly ridiculous, aren’t bad. You can’t help but root for the students, and even the clueless instructors, in “Theater Camp.”
