My camp is theme agnostic, and we plan year round. Most of our planning goes into fund raising and building connections that'll help the camp later as the event approaches.

As I won't be going, the theme is a moot point for me. However, as for my suggesting that anything like it ever be adopted for any local event in the Chicago area - nooooooo. The American dream was one of being able to do one's job, earn a living wage and be left in peace, with a reasonable amount of freedom. Quiet, simple things that make life pleasant, but I'm not sure of how one would get much theatre out of that. Visual Art? Have photos of tract housing on display, with Burt Bacharach playing in the background?

I suppose one could address the theme by negation - show the American Dream by showing the aftermath of its death, but why? People do not need to be reminded of ongoing hardships. Ever see Depression Era films? They tend to be light and fluffy for a reason, and key difference - the Depression only lasted for a little over a decade and those who were unemployed by it had some sense that "this, too will pass". Circa 2007, it is very, very easy to find downsized people who've been pounding the proverbial pavement for as much as 20 years with no end in sight, every reason to doubt that they'll ever be given a real chance to work again, and little public acknowledgement from either side of the political aisle that there is anything unjust in that.

Does somebody living that reality need a theatrical performance to tell him that life is hard? Maybe not. Is the sort of person who insists that all is well and will close his eyes and ears to all evidence to the contrary get anything out of seeing an authentic 60s era formica kitchen, if one decides to mimic the comfortable blandness of pre-downsizing late 20th century America? Probably not. So, I would see nowhere to go with this, and as the theme seems to be about as popular as Fred Phelps at a Pride Parade ... what would it be like to be the only camp that played along with the theme? Maybe kind of like being the only person in costume at a Halloween Party? It loses something.

Maybe the real theme this year will be "do your own thing".