Summer camp can be such a special, formative time for kids looking for fun, life-changing experiences. At the fictional AdirondACTS — a bucolic, financially flailing theater camp in upstate New York and the setting for Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s rollicking quasi-mockumentary comedy feature Theater Camp — summer camp can be an especially impactful, if a bit chaotic, place for young people aspiring for a career in the dramatic arts.
At the helm of AndirondACTS is founder Joan (an all-too-briefly seen Amy Sedaris), who falls into a coma after a strobe light effect from an AdirondACTS production of Bye Bye Birdie triggers a seizure. In her absence, Joan’s entrepreneurial son (Jimmy Tatro) steps in to try and keep the camp economically afloat while leading an eccentric staff that includes the snobby acting coach Amos (Ben Platt, also a co-writer), music theory teacher Rebecca-Diane (Gordon), dance instructor Clive (Nathan Lee Graham), fashion educator Gigi (Owen Thiele), shy theater tech coordinator Glenn (Noah Galvin, also a co-writer), and inexperienced local Janet (Ayo Edebiri). As if the stakes weren’t high enough, Amos and Rebecca-Diane struggle to write and compose the camp’s annual original musical amid their own professional frustrations and long-suppressed strains within their codependent friendship.
Like a Gen-Z cross between the goofy yet heartfelt underdog story of Waiting for Guffman and the madcap energy of Wet Hot American Summer, Theater Camp is an exuberant, frequently delightful romp of a film, balancing out its overstuffed plot and an indecisive commitment to its mockumentary format with excellent performances from a great ensemble and a clever, creative, and crowd-pleasing script that both theater and non-theater folks can enjoy.
Gordon and Lieberman’s able direction, detailed world-building, and ragtag team of unconventional characters are not only a clear ode to the iconic mockumentary work of Christopher Guest, but their earnest love of the theater camp experience also helps inform the nuances of AndironACTs, finding the humor in its imperfections as well as the joy in its fleeting moments of beauty. Even with its many esoteric allusions to thespian culture, Theater Camp remains accessible enough for anyone who has attended summer camp, theater-oriented or not.
A lot of Theater Camp’s strengths stem from its exceptional cast of actors, whose sheer dedication to their roles and understanding of this environment are deeply felt through every specific showbiz reference, flamboyant gesture, and ridiculous group exercise.
Following the unfortunate dud that was the cinematic adaptation of his Broadway breakout Dear Evan Hansen, Platt undergoes a redemption arc as Amos, inhabiting his character’s gleefully obnoxious narcissistic tendencies with enthusiasm and striking ease. Already equipped with a hot streak of standout turns in Booksmart, Good Boys, and Shiva Baby, Gordon matches her co-star’s (and real-life best friend’s) self-involvement as Rebecca-Diane, knowing precisely the kind of quirky behaviors a character like hers would have and exaggerating them to just the right amount of delusion. Her and Amos’s strong personalities and overly critical treatment of the campers arouse both guffaw-inducing moments and a clear desperation that ripples throughout the narrative. So much of theater seems to be driven by passion as much as ego, and in watching the staff impart wisdom to their tiny protegés while also taking their jobs too seriously, one becomes both mesmerized by the spirit on display and giddy with laughter from witnessing their intensity.
As Amos, Rebecca-Diane, and co. brave through the consequences of the camp’s cost-cutting, Troy concocts a few get-rich-quick schemes that amusingly go awry. Though his crypto-bro vlogger characterization verges on simplistic at times, Tatro’s infectious charm pierces through the trappings of the caricature. He strives to keep the community from falling apart, no matter how cringe-inducing his attempts to do so may be or how ill-advised his rapport with an opportunistic business associate Caroline, played by the always lovely Patti Harrison, is.
Most impressively, the actual kids in Theater Camp shine, each one a legitimate star in the making. One wishes the film had focused just a bit more on their lives at AdirondACTS as opposed to depicting sporadic glimpses of their interactions with the staff, but a few campers do get the spotlight: new AdirondACTS member Devon (Donovan Colan) sings an a capella of Post Malone’s “Better Now,” much to Troy’s delight and everyone else’s chagrin; Mackenzie (Bailee Bonick) and Darla (Kyndra Sanchez) shine in Joan, Still, Amos and Rebecca-Diane’s original musical chronicling the life of Joan; and even Alan Kim from the 2020 Sundance drama Minari receives a few slim minutes of screen time playing an adorable agent-in-training.
Although the sturdy performances, collaborative writing, and Nate Hurtsellers’s warm, grainy camerawork carry the story nicely across its breezy 94-minute runtime, Theater Camp sometimes struggles to keep track of all its characters and their respective subplots, leading the overall narrative to feel somewhat baggy. For example, Edebiri, a hilarious stand-up comic and incredible on FX’s The Bear, is frustratingly underused here, with little explanation given for her character’s motivation in joining the AndironACTS staff, and her teaching amateur stage combat lessons doesn’t result in any satisfying payoff. The same goes for the film’s use of cinéma-vérité-style filmmaking, demonstrated most notably via occasionally funny but mostly disruptive expository intertitle cards.
It could be argued that Theater Camp would have benefitted from a more extended length, allowing its many intersecting conflicts more room to breathe rather than cramming in as much as possible in order to fit one contained piece. But, of course, that shouldn’t detract from what Gordon and Lieberman have accomplished in actualizing the ambition of their premise. By the time Theater Camp arrives at its literal showstopper of a climax, its beating heart transcends its flaws. In an odd sort of way, Theater Camp itself feels like the very scrappy team effort it depicts, a sometimes messy yet sweetly sincere and witty show that makes a compelling and ultimately triumphant case to be seen and heard.
