Theatre Camp

Theatre Camp by Molly Gordon and Nick Leiberman

I was never one for glee. I tried a few times at acting. I was guard three in wyrd sisters. I get the odd line. The one time I tried genuinely dramatic acting with my new university, there was a mass audition day at the Ebdlam theatre. I only did what I did because I was a massive fan of Eric Bogosian and the film. But My brief stint as Nasir Chowdhry and benign taken for granted will stick with me and any decisions I make in the future. At least comedy had idiots who only did their time. The idea of six weeks with idiots in rehearsals. No.

The theatre camp takes all those idiots and places them in a thoroughly unapologetic light.

The vanity, awkwardness, and self-consciousness masked as professionalism are brought to the fore. It’s an excellent mockumentary for taking all the things that don’t sit well with a younger cast and throwing them in your face.

The story itself is a by-the-numbers plot on one level. The family’s black sheep comes to take the reins of the theatre group and has to fight with his conscience and sense of belonging at the same time as the seductive allure of the evil corp and their femme fatale while putting a show together. It’s nothing you have not seen before in the ‘let’s just use the magic of theatre and save the theatre by putting on the show ourselves’, complete with twists on the formula that make it stick in your guts and much more.

But it’s the ensemble level of the mockumentary while Joan, still…the semi-memorial musical for the camp owner, dabbles in poor taste, and we see the groups gel and fall apart. My favourite is Rebecca-Diane, facing the inevitable fate many of us have faced. Being ourselves and sticking up for ourselves against some guy, having the story being we have hurt that guy’s feelings! Joan’s influencer son Troy only has a certain sense of class to contend with, not his future. But Rebecca Diane is channelling her thoughts and joans at points.

As I went on, I knew there would be a mockumentary for adults. I was thinking more of a spinal tap than parks and recs, but I knew I should kerb my enthusiasm regarding the musical element—however, one parent who didn’t get the memo brought in a group of 7-9-year-old girls. I was anxious about how this would go. I was surprised at how attentive they were once the film began. They took in the relationships; frankly, the show’s kids get the best lines; you don’t need a tea stick for their concerns.

I was taken aback by how the sweetest elements all had a dark heart and was thrilled with the bleakness channelled while the show business kept smiling. Get a ticket for the front row ASAP.