Screenings August 1 & 2—

Little Theatre Stars In Independent Film

By Nancy K. Crevier

Newtown residents will have the opportunity to view the independent film Doing Agatha on Friday and Saturday, August 1 and 2, at a special viewing to benefit The Little Theatre.

It is a play within a film, and if the setting of Doing Agatha looks familiar, it is because the independent film was shot entirely on location at Newtown’s Little Theatre on Orchard Hill Road. The film, written by Fairfield resident Alexander Kulcsar and produced by Newtown resident Michael Stanley, was filmed there during the winter of 2003-04, and features many Newtown community theater actors as extras, Newtown resident Leigh Griswold in a lead role, and Newtowner Doug MacHugh in a supporting role.

Ms Griswold has appeared in daytime dramas, independent films, and national commercials. She has performed in numerous Square One Theatre productions in Stamford, and the Off Broadway productions of To Kill A Mockingbird and The Three Sisters.

“I first heard about the film from Al and Mike, who I know from productions at Square One Theater,” said Ms Griswold. “It sounded great, and at the first read-through I laughed all the way through.”

Ms Griswold’s character, Candy, is a self-absorbed community actress interested in how things work for her, said Ms Griswold, and was a lot of fun to play. “I enjoy doing comedy,” said Ms Griswold, adding that the exaggerated look at every mistake that could happen in community theater as portrayed in Doing Agatha was one of the things that made the film fun to do.

“Mike and Al are both so talented and professional as producers and directors, it was great working with both of them,” said Ms Griswold, who had previously acted with Mr Kulcsar and Mr Stanley at Square One.

She is dismayed that other plans will prevent her from viewing Doing Agatha at The Little Theater next weekend but said, “I was able to see a screening at Square One, and it was great to see it all come together.”

Local actor and director Doug MacHugh, the principal director of the C.H. Booth Library Newtown READS To Kill A Mockingbird production last year, plays of Mitch in Doing Agatha. Mr MacHugh, a film teacher at Sarah Lawrence College, is a veteran actor of many TV sitcoms and Off Broadway theater.

“I liked Mike Stanley immediately. He was so excited about the project and so was Al,” said Mr MacHugh, who met the two men through Ruth Anne Baumgartner, one of The Little Theater’s directors. “Mitch seemed like a fun part, and the great thing about it was that the location is right across the street from my house,” he laughed. “I love doing comedy, so when I get a chance to take a crack at it, it’s great.”

Mr MacHugh had never performed in the community theater, but found the experience of working with others who had been very exciting.

“There is so much local talent and [Doing Agatha] was not easy stuff to do. Everyone was phenomenal. The Little Theater is pretty small, only about 70 seats, so I hope enough people will get in to see the film,” he added.

“Mike and I had worked together at the Little Theatre over the years, mostly building sets, and acting in some productions, when we decided to make a film,” said Mr Kulcsar, a freelance writer and graphic designer. Mr Stanley had also directed Mr Kulcsar in the one-man play A Pirate’s Life and in The Wurrld According to Dooley, Mr Kulcsar’s own work.

“Mike was on the board at The Little Theatre at one time, too. So when we were trying to come up with the film, he set the parameters to keep the costs under control and decided all of the set should be in one location. The Little Theatre was available to us and it really is pretty photogenic,” he said.

The film’s budget was a mere $25,000, not including deferred pay for the actors and crew. Just as unusual as a small budget, while most writers might write a script first and then find the location, Doing Agatha was written specifically to be filmed at The Little Theatre. Not only that, said Mr Kulcsar, parts were written with particular actors in mind. Then he set about writing the story.

Inspired by productions of Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest, by his own experiences in community theater, and by the tales other actors shared with him, Mr Kulcsar settled on the subject he knew best: local theater and what goes on behind the scenes.

Doing Agatha is the story of a Broadway actress scheduled to appear in a revival of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, when the odd mental disorder “Christeria,” caused by too much involvement with Agatha Christie productions, causes her to bail out and disappear. She resurfaces in Connecticut where she comes upon a community theater rehearsing yet another Christie play, The Unexpected Guest. Miscast roles, a clueless director, and a depleted technical crew are fodder for the humor when Mr Kulcsar’s lead character takes on the role abandoned by this play’s leading lady. The onstage and backstage madness and mayhem that ensues is an escalation — or not — of typical community theater, said Mr Kulcsar.

“The thing about live theater is that you have to expect the unexpected,” he said. He is quick to add, though, that the play is not intended to ridicule community theater. “Our story is about acting and identity, and maintaining both while coping with unexpected disasters,” Mr Kulcsar said. Nor is the film a rehash of the mock documentary by Christopher Guest, Waiting For Guffman.

Doing Agatha is based on real life experiences that Mr Stanley, Mr Kulcsar, and the other actors in the film have witnessed. From compulsive improvisers to actors who suddenly exit stage left to use the bathroom or go home, to those actors who rely on lines hidden on stage or written across the proscenium, Doing Agatha highlights the challenges and rewards of community theater.

The theater and film world is a right-brain thing for Michael Stanley, who works as a service support specialist for the liquid chromatography product line at Perkin-Elmer in Shelton, a far cry from directing and producing. But Doing Agatha was not the first collaboration between Mr Kulcsar and Mr Stanley, nor was this the first film for Mr Stanley. His cult film Attack of the Beast Creatures, is a horror film, but what Mr Stanley wanted to do was a comedy. 

The Little Theatre, in his hometown, provided the perfect backdrop for their story, Mr Stanley said.

“You know what they say: ‘Write about what you know.’ So when we decided to do the film, The Little Theatre was the logical choice. It’s the quintessential community theater, tucked away in a charming setting.”

As with any real location, said Mr Stanley, The Little Theatre posed challenges to lighting and sound.

“We were often filming in tight spaces. In addition, the heating system, while not too loud to the human ear, was thunderous to our microphones. This meant we had to turn off the heat for long periods of time.” In January, that meant a few cold toes and noses. Still, despite the ups and downs, production was very satisfying, said Mr Stanley.

Working on a film differs in many ways from live productions, he said, mainly because with a movie, filming is often done out of sequence.

“In theater you work with small pieces of the script during rehearsals, gradually bringing them together in sequence. The difference for actors [in film vs live theater] is that film requires a different mindset and a different level of acting. As a director, I find filmmaking very similar to the rehearsal period of theater, with the added ability of telling the story from any perspective I want through the use of camera angles,” he said.

Over the four years since filming was finished, the film has been streamlined, said Mr Kulcsar. In the past year, the film has screened at the Stratford Library, Square One Theater in Stratford, and at the Pequot Library, where audience reaction was taken into account to make adjustments.

“What Newtown will be seeing is the final version,” said Mr Kulcsar. “We had to give up some things we hated to, but the length has to be in control, and the ‘tweaking’ has improved the pace,” he said.

Mr Kulcsar and Mr Stanley are looking forward to the August 1 and 2 screening in Newtown.

“We always wanted to show the film at the theater. I think it will be neat for audiences to see the film in the location where it was shot. And if we can raise awareness of the Little Theatre, that would be good. It has been a part of the community for a long time and we hope this benefit will raise the profile,” Mr Kulcsar said.

Tickets for Doing Agatha are $10 and can be reserved by calling 270-9144. All proceeds will go to The Town Players of The Little Theatre of Newtown. Seating each night is limited to 70 people.