Constellation's first production, 'The Grown-Ups,' sets audience, actors around a campfire

Constellation's first performance fires up the audience, literally.

Rehearse then immerse. That's what Constellation Stage & Screen has been doing as they prep for the new company's first (and immersive) performance. "The Grown-Ups" will be outdoors under some actual constellations.

Small audiences will gather around a campfire, Sept. 14  through Oct. 1, and immerse themselves in the cast's talent. That's because the cast, playing camp counselors, will be sitting right there among the ticket buyers.

Although there is no stage, "it is NOT a show with audience interaction," said Chad Rabinovitz, artistic director of new works for the company.

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The play, by Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques, takes place at a summer camp. The campers sleep in their tents as the counselors unwind by fire glow. As they observe what seems to them a progressively bleak world, they discuss how best to mold the sleeping future leaders. Henriques stars as Lukas, and Fox directs.

As a child, Henriques attended a sleepover camp much like the one in "The Grown–Ups." 

"I was 10. It was not for me. I cried a bunch, got sick, did not make any friends, and briefly got lost in the woods at night," he said. "I spent my subsequent summers doing theater, which was much more my speed."

Fictional turbulence is occurring outside of the play's camp (you'll have to be there to find out), and the counselors are just now checking their phones for the first time since breakfast. We begin to learn what is going on out there beyond the tent poles and glassy lake.

"You're sitting around the campfire with (the counselors) as if you're a fellow counselor. So the (immersion) is about the closeness you have to the actors, the action and the environment of the play," Henriques explained.

"The Grown-ups," which happens also to be Constellation’s first page-to-stage-to-screen project, premiered a year ago in the Brooklyn, New York, backyard of Henriques.

"It extended its sold-out run three times," he said, "and Time Out New York gave it four stars and called it 'the coolest new play you probably can't see.' They also included it on their list of the 10 best shows of 2021."

The writers realized that to come up with a play where people sit around and talk they had to create exciting dialog. "Unique theatricality and immersion aside," Henriques said, "I think it’s just a good story. And it's funny!"

As for the immersion, the audience's senses will provide the set design, as they take in the atmosphere, an actual former summer camp. They'll feel the fire's warmth as they smell toasting marshmallows, hear cicadas and katydids and watch the constellations.

The inescapable feeling of coming of age against one's will is much of what the play is about. "Maybe the immersive aspect of the show is even more fitting than we'd realized."

And since the audience will be sitting with the actors, they’ll be able to notice tiny side glances and sharp breaths that they normally couldn’t. 

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"That summer camp feeling won’t just start when the audience sits down — in a way, the whole drive out to the venue will be part of the experience."

The crew has designed ways to incorporate some of the existing camp features into the play's staging. The open spaces at the Hundredth Hill venue help.

“The Grown-Ups" lets us discover the significance of how people talk about their days or how activities get assigned in ways that have been reinforced through generations of campers and counselors. It asks, How do you hold onto notions that have made something special for you, while also adapting to change?

"The Grown–Ups " looks at tradition and change and what makes people want to change, particularly when nothing has prepared them. The playwrights hope for a bit of fright, after all they imagine the play as one big scary story told around a campfire. "That said, no one's going to jump out and surprise you."

If you go

WHAT: Constellation Stage & Screen's first production, "The Grown-Ups: An Immersive Outdoor Experience"

WHEN: Sept. 14- Oct. 1. Check website for details: https://seeconstellation.org

WHERE: The Hundredth Hill Artist Retreat and Residency, 8275 N. Fish Road

TICKETS: Availability is extremely limited, and there is a waitlist. Tickets may be available through Constellation’s website and the box office, 812-336-9300. Bring your own refreshments; camp chairs are provided. Masking is optional.