Is it “theatre” or “theater”? Either way, the improvised comedy of doco-style send-up Theater Camp is a total riot. Amelia Berry even says that Broadway star Ben Platt gets the big-screen redemption he’s after.
Theater Camp
Do you long for the limelight? The smell of grease-paint? The roar of applause? Do you have strong feelings about Chekhov, Chess, or Sunday in the Park with George? Are you now, or have you ever been de-lovely? If you answered yes to any or all of the above, then Theater Camp might just be your new favourite movie. If not, prepare to be converted to the luvvie lifestyle.
Adiron-ACTS is a summer theatre camp in rural New York run by Joan (Amy Sedaris) and her scrappy team of ex-campers and ageing theatre divas. After a freak accident at a school production of Bye Bye Birdie leaves Joan in a coma, her investment bro son Troy (Jimmy Tatro from American Vandal) is left to save the camp from financial ruin.
It’s a tale as old as Busby Berkeley, but Theater Camp’s take on “raising $10,000 to save the rec centre” serves as a solid foundation on which to hang a series of brilliant sketches, ridiculous and involved musical theatre gags. Plus a genuinely touching story of friendship and getting your shit together.
Shot in a warm and lo-fi documentary style, Theater Camp is the debut feature from directors Nick Lieberman and Molly Gordon (you’ll know her as an actor from The Bear and Shiva Baby). The pair co-wrote the film with Broadway stars (and fiancés) Ben Platt and Noah Galvin—crafting the scenes, story, a few specific gags, and the songs, and then leaving the cast to improvise the dialogue.
Of course, being an improvised mockumentary about amateur theatre, the obvious reference is Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy’s classic Waiting For Guffman. In spirit though, Theater Camp feels a little closer to Guest and Levy’s folk music send-up A Mighty Wind—more authentic, more loving, and just absolutely the most lived-in piss-take you’ve ever seen.
This kind of improvised comedy can be difficult to pull off, and it’s a testament to the cast that scenes in Theater Camp never come off as forced or rambling. Gordon, Platt, and Galvin make up the core cast alongside Tatro, with an incredible supporting ensemble that includes Patti Harrison (Shrill, I Think You Should Leave), Ayo Edibiri (Bottoms, The Bear, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem—2023 is her year!), and Nathan Lee Graham (Mugatu’s assistant Todd from Zoolander). Hell, even the child actors are good!
It’s an amazing redemption for Ben Platt, who had become infamous in certain corners of the internet for starring in the widely panned 2021 film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen. There’s an hour long YouTube video about it with five and a half million views (“I Don’t Just Roast I Incinerate”)! It’s easy to see that becoming a footnote in his career now—his performance in Theater Camp is just so controlled, layered, and funny.
Theater Camp is surprisingly good. Shockingly good, even. In a world of wistful dramedies and dark conceptual indie fare, it feels like a throwback to an older style of low-budget comedy cinema. Life-affirming and joyful without ever being twee, cutting and satirical without ever being cruel—if there was ever a worthy successor to Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, then Theater Camp is it.
