Camp Siegfried
by Bess Wohl

Off-BroadwayOff-West End

Camp Siegfried Book Cover — Camp Siegfried Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins1930sStrong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle)Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)Unit Set/Multiple SettingsPeriod Costumes

Awards & Recognition

Evening Standard Award

Nominee: 2022 Evening Standard Theatre Award

Synopsis

It’s 1938 and a lonely sixteen-year-old girl’s parents have made a decision: She will go to the Long Island summer camp her aunt’s been attending for the past couple of years.

To be honest, she is not really into it – everyone there is really excited about their German heritage, what with the oompah music and beer flowing every night.

So when a seventeen-year-old boy is the first to befriend her, they find in each other a connection that grows deeper as the summer progresses.

They feel understood, and almost nothing will stop their burgeoning love.

Based on the real Camp Siegfried created by the German American Bund just before World War II, Bess Wohl’s play is about the compromises, self-deceptions, and hurt we endure when intoxicated by the need to be loved.

Press Reviews

"A fascinating and artfully written story with stranger-than-fiction reality at its heart."
— The Guardian

"A disturbing, fascinating play… look[s] at how right-wing radicalism can be fueled by, and feed into, hysteria that looks a lot like adolescent lust.” – The New York Times“What is revealed in this determined, uncompromising play is the dark side of human nature, as well as its vulnerability."
— Theater Pizzazz