In The Grown-Ups, set at a summer camp and now running on a patch of grass next to Shakespeare Dallas’ amphitheater at Samuell-Grand Park in a production by Kitchen Dog Theater, playwrights Simon Henriques and Skylar Fox nail the way today’s young people relate to one another when they’re not staring at their phones.
Sensitivity, ethical behavior and compromise are high priorities among these almost-grown Gen Z senior counselors at Camp Indigo as they gather nightly after the kids have been put to bed. That is, until perceived slights and ego-driven competition bubble up from under the surface.
The cast does a great job of conveying the small talk and eventually what’s beneath it. Personalities clash. Who’s in charge, especially as the stress of the situation they will soon find themselves in ramps up? A social order is being established.
In the meantime, the counselors debate camp traditions, relating their longtime ties and downloading their days of supervising children. They have history. All but one of the five characters have been coming here for years before running the place.
“The pretty girl” Maeve (Olivia Cinquepalmi) and Becca (Emily Buesing) are best friends, though that will be tested. A newcomer, Cassie (Vinita Dixit), struggles to fit in. There are awkward exchanges as everyone tries to be polite. Feelings emerge.
Assistant camp director Aidan (Thomas Magee) is also a bit of an outsider. When he arrives each evening with their phones, the counselors ignore his chatter and stare at the screens in their hands.
Quick shifts in lighting and subtle sound effects mark the passage of each day. Sometimes the children can be heard in the background. Another anchoring feature is the gentrifying community around the camp, a potential threat to the way it’s always been. The detailed context that accumulates makes for naturalistic theater at its best. Katie Ibrahim directs with a sharp if gentle touch.
With the audience still settling into plastic seats arranged in a circle around a mock fire pit, string lights hovering above, the action starts even before co-artistic director Tina Parker arrives for the pre-show speech.
Backward cap-wearing Lukas (Brady White) sits down in a canvas chair near the pit, propping up his feet. No one seems to notice. But as he glances at the sky questioningly, it’s a hint that something’s up. After all, we’re at summer camp and it’s getting dark. Might a ghost story be in the offing? Is a Freddy or Jason on the loose? Not exactly.
Even as a scary tale about a former camper gets told in stages, the real threat coming to Camp Indigo is firmly from this world, not the next. And there’s no superhuman monster running amuck amok.
Keep in mind that The Grown-Ups, first performed in a Brooklyn backyard in 2021, was written during the pandemic and amid our current political upheaval. The metaphors are juicy. Fox and Henriques created it with the original cast that included Henriques. Fox directed.
The real menace grows gradually, believe it or not from a social media meme that might seem just silly in any other era. Soon there’s talk of rallies and truth squads. A drone patrols the sky. What’s to be done to keep the children safe?
What’s brilliant about The Grown-Ups is that no one panics. They reason through their options and agree to a plausible plan under the circumstances. Should we tell the kids? Do they already know?
It harkens back to something Lukas said earlier about the young campers: “They’re going to be in charge of everything one day.”
Details
Through May 11 at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre, 1500 Tenison Parkway. $25-$30. Some performances are sold out. kitchendogtheater.org.
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