ALL SCRIPTS SHOULD BE THIS GROWN UP
One of the most riveting and original pieces of theater I have ever seen, The Grown-Ups is now playing outdoors around a campfire near you. Funny, spooky, and sometimes purposefully enigmatic, I simply can’t stop thinking about it, along with all of those psychological Easter Eggs in Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques‘ remarkable script, which nails the patois of five very distinct camp counselors — well, four young twenty-something senior counselors and an assistant to the camp director. Produced by a new company, Baby Teeth, the set-up is simple but the events that transpire are complex — and even gravely disturbing given how they mirror our world of the internet fanning the flames of anger that create an untenable situation. (And that’s about all the plot you’ll get from me.)
The audience members, who find out where the play takes place the day of the show, is seated in two circular rows of camp chairs, listening in as hummingbirds tweet in the trees above, and a dog barks nearby. Even with a propane fire instead of real wood and LAPD helicopters circling above, we absolutely buy that we are at Camp Indigo, a lake sleepaway camp far from the city. (Those helicopters actually could have been part of the script as they presage what’s to come.) Over many nights, the counselors gather to talk about their day, organize strategies for principled reactions to decision-making, drink beer, tell ghost stories or run off to jump in the lake. A romantic assignation here, a sibling rivalry there, a friendship tested, a newbie challenging ways to work jointly toward the same end, and so much more.
Russell Sperberg is Aidan, the counselor-turned Director’s Assistant; it’s a job he takes so seriously — with responsibilities seeming more like an onus — that actually sitting with the other four younger counselors feels sadly verboten. Loveable Cody Sloan is Lukas, drowning beneath a huge mass of vulnerability to the point that he always seems close to losing it, even as a concerned gentleness permeates Sloan’s performance. I’m sure I have met Maeve before. Played full of energy, excitement, and cheerfulness by Avery Deutsch, this dominant girl has a tinge of superiority with a sophisticated Valley Girl tone. I loved watching Caroline Keeler as Becca, who truly loves her job, yet it feels like that job defines Becca. Underneath the fervor and zeal there seems to be an aura of sadness from just trying to fit in — it’s a multi-layered performance. More often than not, I found myself glued to Sabrina J. Liu as the rookie of the group, Cassie. She definitely has moxie, offering ways to alter the diplomatic formality already established at camp, but she’s also socially maladroit. Between Liu’s internal machinery and the way she kept pushing her glasses back up her nose, I found her performance particularly fascinating.
We never meet the Camp Director, but her presence is felt throughout the piece. The same goes for director Emily Moler, who craftily makes it seem like the show had no director at all, and that’s a grand achievement. Also, Production Stage Manager Casey Collaso has to deal with the bugaboos of outdoors theater, real s’mores and situating us in a Los Feliz backyard, which was found at the last minute in a sudden change of space.
This is handily one of the best new plays to come down the pike in years. It’s dismaying that the L.A. premiere of The Grown-Ups has such a woefully short run, August 2 – 11, 2024. Even though it closes tomorrow (want tickets? fuggedaboutit) I’m rather certain our counselors will return again. They have a lot to teach us about being prepared, which may not be the same thing as being a grown-up.
photos by Grant Terzakis
for tickets to future (hopefully) performances, visit Event Brite
follow Baby Teeth on Instagram at @babyteethla or email baby[email protected]