''Camp Siegfried'' is a play by

Bess Wohl Bess Wohl is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress whose plays include ''Grand Horizons'', ''Small Mouth Sounds'', and the book for the musical ''Pretty Filthy'' with composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and The Civilians. Early life W ...

. Its setting is the real

Camp Siegfried Camp Siegfried, a summer camp which taught Nazi ideology, was located in Yaphank, New York, on Long Island. It was owned by the German American Bund, an American Nazi organization devoted to promoting a favorable view of Nazi Germany, and was ...

where American children of German descent were taught

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

ideology.

Background

Playwright Wohl had rented a house in

Bellport Bellport is a village in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 2,084 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Bellport is named after the Bell family ...

, Long Island, and had researched the nearby town of

Yaphank Yaphank () is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 5,945 at the time of the 2010 census. Yaphank is located in the south part of the Town of Brookhaven. It is served by the L ...

. She discovered the town had hosted a camp for German-American youth, and felt it had the makings of a drama.

Productions

''Camp Siegfried'' premiered at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

theatre in London, in a production starring

Patsy Ferran Patsy Ferran is a Spanish-British actress. Early life Ferran was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1989. Her father is from Barcelona and her mother is from Valencia. The family moved to England when Ferran was a child. She attended Notre Dame School ...

as Her and Luke Thallon as Him. The production played a limited run from 7 September 2021 to 30 October. A production opened

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the Tony Kiser Theatre on 15 November 2022 and ran through 4 December 2022, following previews from 25 October. The cast featured

Sawyer Barth Sawyer Barth (born November 7, 2001) is an American actor, known for his role as Flake in '' And Then I Go'' and Frank Cleary in the ABC sitcom '' The Kids Are Alright''. Biography and Career A native of West Long Branch, New Jersey, he recei ...

as Him and Lily McInerny as Her. The production was directed by

David Cromer David Cromer (born October 17, 1964) is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous aw ...

Critical reception

In his 5 star review for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Paul Taylor described ''Camp Siegfried'' as "an insightful piece about the frightening appeal of fascism". In her 3 star review for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Arifa Akbar states that "while Wohl’s dialogue is good at teen neurosis, it contains an offputtingly self-conscious tone, carefully crafted for cuteness".

References

{{reflist 2021 plays German American Bund American plays West End plays Off-Broadway plays Plays set in New York (state) Long Island in fiction

Background

Productions

Critical reception

See also

References