No merit badge currently exists to honor the successful staging of an Off-Off-Broadway show, but if it did, the performers, writers, and director of the sweet treat Girl Scouts of America* would be sewing it onto their sashes right about now. Smart cookies Andrea Berloff and Mona Mansour have distilled their years as Girl Scouts into this four-woman show, which combines reminiscences with a fictional romance between two camp counselors. As the various characters endeavor to "serve God, my country, and mankind," they pause to sing campfire songs and earn merit badges for self-esteem and "realizing childhood sucks."
--Alexis Soloski, Village Voice
Be prepared to love Girl Scouts of America*....All four women play multiple roles with panache, and they seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves. The feeling is infectious, and the audience eats it up...Christine Peters’ set comprises a giant s’more, box of raisins, matches, utensils, and badges set against brightly colored flats depicting scouting activities. Director James Saba captures the corniness of an organization that girls join reluctantly but end up savoring for a lifetime. Who knew it could feel so good to be good?
--Kerri Allen, Backstage
A refreshingly kind-hearted coming-of-age comedy about how America raises its young women, Girl Scouts of America* pokes fun at the titular institution at times, but ultimately gives the GSA a big hug, even going so far as to applaud audience members who served as scouts...The four actresses—Deb Heinig, Barbara Pitts, Nisi Sturgis, and Karen Zippler—all acquit themselves extremely well. Sturgis in particular is a real comic find, as she delineates the different characters she plays so sharply, and with hilarious oversized accents to boot. Pitts and Heinig are delightful at portraying a Sapphic fling between two counselors at a scouting camp, and it’s refreshing to see the lesbian subplot treated with such light-hearted optimism.
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Kevin Manganaro, Broadway.com
Full of clever dialogue, hilarious observations, and memory-jogging details...
--Melanie Lee, NYTheatre.com
All-American spirit with several well-drawn female characters...A nostalgic love letter.
--Jason Zinoman, New York Times
* Girls Gone Scouting was first performed off-off-Broadway under the title Girl Scouts of America.
