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Sundance 2023: 'Theater Camp' is too self-indulgent to fulfill its comedic potential


Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Alexander Bello, Kyndra Sanchez, Bailee Bonick, Quinn Titcomb, Madisen Marie Lora, Donovan Colan and Luke Islam appear in a still from Theater Camp by Molly Goron and Nick Lieberman, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Alexander Bello, Kyndra Sanchez, Bailee Bonick, Quinn Titcomb, Madisen Marie Lora, Donovan Colan and Luke Islam appear in a still from Theater Camp by Molly Goron and Nick Lieberman, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute
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Theater Camp
3 out of 5 Stars
Director
: Milly Gordon, Nick Lieberman
Writers: Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt
Starring: Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Ayo Edibiri
Category: U.S. Dramatic Compettion
Genre: Comedy
Tickets, Online Screenings:Click Here

Sundance Synopsis: As summer rolls around again, kids are gathering from all over to attend AdirondACTS, a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York that’s a haven for budding performers. After its indomitable founder Joan (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma, her clueless “crypto-bro” son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is tasked with keeping the thespian paradise running. With financial ruin looming, Troy must join forces with Amos (Ben Platt), Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), and their band of eccentric teachers to come up with a solution before the curtain rises on opening night.

Review: I haven’t watched “Waiting for Guffman” or “Hamlet 2” in quite some time, but it feels like “Theater Camp” would make for a spiritual trilogy. “Guffman” is about community theater; “Hamlet 2” is high school theater; and “Theater Camp” is about well, it’s about theater camp. A struggling theater camp called AdirondACTS that is already on the verge of bankruptcy when its leader, Joan (Amy Sedaris), falls into a strobe-light-induced coma. In her absence, her son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) steps in. Troy is a hapless man with big dreams and an incredibly small social media presence.

We learn that in the name of cost cutting, Troy has fired most of the instructors. Leaving only a handful of semi-trained professionals and a local woman with no theater experience whatsoever to manage fifty or so students. Sadly, “Theater Camp” isn’t about the students. It is primarily about Angelo Bassett (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), ride or die besties who threw off their dreams of being performers to be teachers aspiring to be performers. This is a camp with large personalities and minute resumes.

It's clear that Platt, Gordon, and Tatro had a wonderful time making the film. I wish I could say that watching it was equally enjoyable. “Theater Camp” is self-indulgent and too flippant to really generate any emotional warmth. You’ll laugh and there are some clever elements like Alan (Alan S. Kim) a camper who is an aspiring agent, or Bradley (Noah Galvin), a talented actor pushed into running the stage management and behind-the-scenes classes. There is a better film within this premise just waiting to be made.

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