Hunting Camp

Final performances of backwoods comedy by Jennifer Sills

The third and final play in Théâtre Roulant’s summer season at the Waring House comes to a close this weekend. Hunting Camp tells the story of what happens when a long-established men’s getaway week is disrupted after one of the guys brings his new wife to camp. She comes with her own ideas of what breakfast should be, what games they can play to pass the time, and what hunting attire should look like. Tempers fray and bullets fly, but in the end, the essence of what hunting camp truly is comes out.

Jennifer Sills wrote the play in 2010 after a chance conversation and a sleepless night where the idea kept her mind churning. She wrote the script and sent it to Lori Farrington and Pat Larkin for their input. “Lori, who is a literacy teacher, said ‘Can I edit this?’, and Pat said ‘When are we going to do this?’” said Ms. Sills. The Marysburgh Mummers staged the play for a four-night run in the fall of 2011. “I couldn’t do the introduction on opening night. Carlotta [Rutledge] had to introduce the show. I was backstage, pacing. I was so nervous. The first laugh I heard and I went ‘I’m okay, they got it.’ It was fun run, then I just tucked it away for a while,” she said.

The play was chosen for Théâtre Roulant’s 2026 season, and auditions took place in January. Toby Farrell plays the part of Jon, the newlywed who brings his wife to camp. He has been involved in community theatre for a little over two years, mostly in Belleville, and this is his first production with Théâtre Roulant. It is also his first outdoor performance. He said that the venue is wonderful, and he does not notice the traffic noise from the roundabout. When it comes to preparing for his character, he said he studies the script and then tries to fill in the gaps so that his character comes fully to life, with the aim of bringing that to the audience. “I’d like them to enjoy themselves and feel like they’ve been entertained,” he said.

Galvin Drake plays Gordie, the oldest member of the getaway group. Mr. Drake is also relatively new to community theatre, and has appeared in four shows with the Belleville Theatre Guild. He said that his character is the traditional hunter, and is grumpy on the outside, but is really a bit of a softie underneath. “For Gordie, hunting camp is a getaway, a time for men to be men,” he said. Mr. Drake is not himself a hunter, but has friends who are, so he modelled his character on those. “It’s been a nice experience to get into character. One of the highlights for me is to be working with new people. It’s a perfect opportunity to get to know them and to expand the circle of who I’ve worked with.”

The script of the play has not been modified since its 2011 performance, but when Pat Larkin and Bruce Dowdell saw the new performance on opening night they commented on how much it had changed. Ms. Sills credits that to the cast and to the set design. “The scenes have been improved by the cast—how they deliver their lines, how they move on stage. I’m working with five very creative people who put their whole energy into it,” she said. There are evening performances of Hunting Camp on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with a final matinee performance of Saturday. For tickets, please visit theatreroulant.com. Outdoor theatre at the Waring House continues on August 21 with the County Shakespeare Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing.