Camping with Henry & Tom
Video & Projection Design for Theatre
Camping with Henry & Tom is inspired by a real 1921 camping trip taken by Warren G. Harding, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison – three men with starkly different personalities and world views.
The video design included a bespoke historically accurate newsreel and silent film that both told the story of the three characters’ rural car crash and instantly immersed the audience in the time period and visual language of the play. Video design also elevated the forest atmosphere and augmented the scenic and lighting designs throughout with subtle beams of light, ground fog, and fireflies.
Production History
Palm Beach Dramaworks | Palm Beach, FL | 2025
Creative Team
Written by Mark St. Germain
Directed by William Hayes
Scenic Design: Bert Scott
Costume Design: Brian O’Keefe
Lighting Design: Kirk Bookman
Sound Design: Roger Arnold
Video & Projection Design: Adam J. Thompson
Scenic Artist: Terry Martin
Production Stage Manager: Suzanne Clement Jones
Assistant Stage Manager: Anna-Teressa Soto-Andujar
Performed By
Rob Donohoe: Thomas Edison
John Leonard Thompson: Henry Ford
Tom Wahl: Warren G. Harding
John Campagnuolo: Colonel Edmund Starling
Photographs by Curtis Brown Photography
Press
"But the outstanding production honor belongs to Adam J. Thompson, the resident projection designer, for two creations. For the 20 minutes or so that the audience comes to take their seats, he has manufactured a seemingly rescued black and white newsreel mixing authentic footage of Chaplin and the Kaiser...which he has adorned with his own verbiage...But even better, once the evening starts, we see the beginning of [a] credit sequence and then the film of the trio in [a] car...tooling along before hitting a deer. Then the sheet drops and disappears, and a real-life Model T touring car rolls onto a heavily foliaged...stage." - Florida Theater Onstage
"Upon entering the theatre, theatergoers are greeted by a 1920s-esque video, designed magnificently by Adam J. Thompson, projected onto a screen at the back of the stage. The black and white video is a collection of headlines and clips from the era, and is made to look and sound like a vintage film...[t]he technical and creative elements are nothing short of wonderful." - Boca News
"The play begins with Adam J. Thompson's short, silent film cleverly made to look vintage, depicting Ford, Harding, and Edison on a bumpy drive in a Model T, which segues into the on stage action." - The Palm Beach Post