Film: Theater Camp

Theater Camp is a rare comedic gem, finding its heroes in a band of unlikely thespian misfits.

The 2023 American mockumentary-style comedy film, based on a screenplay by Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt, and Noah Galvin, features an ensemble cast including Galvin, Gordon, Platt, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Nathan Lee Graham, Ayo Edebiri, Owen Thiele, Caroline Aaron, and Amy Sedaris. The feature film also marks Gordon and Lieberman’s directorial debuts.  

As summer quickly approaches, theatre kids and instructors are ready to return to AdirondACTS, a beloved underdog summer theater camp for budding performers in upstate New York. After the camp’s founder and leader, Joan (Amy Sedaris), falls into a coma, the camp is left in the hands of her business influencer son, Troy (Jimmy Tatro), who is tasked with keeping the camp financially afloat. With the help of Amos (Ben Platt), Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), and the other teachers and students, Troy sees how much these thespians have come to love the camp his mother has built, and joins forces with them to save the camp from financial ruin.

It’s immediately apparent that the screenplay was written by theatre people for theatre people. The film uses many zany plot elements and niche comedic bits that appeal to the broader theatre community, from Joan’s coma being caused by strobe lights in a community production of Bye Bye, Birdie, to Amos calling the campers’ attention with a rendition of “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'”. From its use of niche humor and childhood nostalgia, Theater Camp is best enjoyed in a theater filled with other theatre people, giggling uncontrollably at its clever self-aware jabs over popcorn and cold drinks.

The film’s mockumentary style creates a nostalgic tone, taking audiences back to their own childhood summers and days of camp. The cinematography is reminiscent of home video recordings of the 90s and early 2000s, and captures the essence of childlike innocence. On top of this, the film intentional interweaves childhood home videos of the film’s creators from their own childhood theater camp experiences— notably, Ben Platt and Molly Gordon doing theater together growing up in Los Angeles — for a personal touch on the film.

As Amos and Rebecca-Diane scramble to assemble their annual original musical (this year, a tribute piece, Joan, Still), it captures the feeling of working under an eccentric art teacher. The unspoken punchline is, of course, that the camp teachers treat the kids like adults, and the material they’re using is too mature for them. A set up all too familiar for those who grew up in art programs.

The screenplay is fresh and funny and is exactly the kind of film we need to see now. It’s delightfully eccentric while still grounded in realism that audiences need to resonate.

The genuine joy and thrill of Theater Camp is this world its audience lives in for 90 minutes. Seeped in nostalgia and the inherent community of thespians, the taps into beloved memories of theater camp, and the empathy for being so passionately dedicated to a craft.

The film has quickly been embraced by the theatre community, who cheekily sees it like holding up a mirror, and this film will likely become a beloved staple for many years to come.