If you know the North Hollywood Theatre scene you know Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre. This avant garde nest of creativity along Lankershim Boulevard is always churning with the unknown. A sort of theatrical stew that yields intimate, black box shows that can be at times terrifying, grotesque, lurid, and hilarious. You never really know where the show is going to go.
For their first limited-run, “pop-up” experience, Zombie and a merry band of performers have decided to take us to Camp Whitsit. Described as a 20 minute, immersive, lightly tactile performance piece, Whitsit aims to whisk guests back to summer camp and the “harrowing” initiations. “Oh god.” I thought initially. “What are they going to do to me?” It turns out that I had nothing to worry about.
Camp Whitsit turned out to be one of the best, most endearing shows he has done in years. Harkening back to the innocent days of summer camp, the experience begins outside the theatre as we meet the head camp counselor outside the theatre. Dressed in full-on camping attire, Zombie greeted me as “Tenderfoot Norm” and asked if I was really ready to go through the initiations. I assured him I was and was given the cursory forms to sign to back that claim up. After that I was handed a blindfold to wear, being instructed that I would only be allowed to take it off at certain times during the show.
Guests enter the theatre space in twos. As my initiation buddy and I stood outside, at night, on a busy North Hollywood street, the world slowly began to melt away. Despite cars zooming down the street behind us, Zombie chatted us up about being new to camp, and some of the strange goings on in the mountains this time of year. With a playful wonder, we were told that the spirits and nature were particularly active and this was a special night for us to go through our trials.
It was time for us to begin and we were escorted inside. Or rather, inside the theatre of the mind. We were suddenly enveloped in total darkness, the scent of pine trees, and the sounds of birds in the trees, and creatures scurrying around at night. Guided, we knelt down and into a camping tent. The tent was closed up behind us and we were instructed to remove our blindfolds.
The tent was glowing red from a nearby campfire just outside, and a chipper camp counselor sat before us with a flashlight in her hand. Happy as can be, the counselor made sure we knew what we were getting into and told us she knew we could do it. We were certain to earn our merit badges. Given a safe word, “Homesick” we could end the experience at any time but neither of us needed it. We were confident we would triumph. We were told to slip our blindfolds back on and the adventure began.
We exited the tent and, again, the smell of pine, the rustle of grass under our feet, our faces being brushed by tree limbs, it was easy to give in and succumb to the illusion. We were put through our paces that that included everything from feats of skill to paranormal run-ins, yet all with a playful, dare I say wholesome approach. The dark edge of ZJU was ditched and we were encouraged to give in to that innocent time when we were trusted, and were filled with a sense of wonder.
Camp Whitsit is old-school boy scout games with a new patina and a few new tricks here at there and it was great fun. The Camp counselors that included Chloë Darinka Berlinger, Carly Cylinder, Cashekia Forte, Casey Hunter, Amanda McKenna, Madelaine Rain, Brandon Slezak, Danielle Swanson, Roger K. Weiss, and Zombie Joe, were all wonderful played a key role in maintaining the upbeat, mischievous, tone, never going with the darker gimmicks that ZJU is prone to play with. A nice change indeed.
No, Camp Whitsit isn’t groundbreaking, it’s not going to change your life, or give you a new take on things. This is not what it aims to do. This piece is here strictly to entertain and make us feel nostalgic and it does it perfectly.
The only downside is that the show runs this weekend only. Tonight and tomorrow night, and the capacity is low. Our advice is to grab a ticket now or pray for an extension.
