The mockumentary style is tough to get exactly right. Still, director Colby Cyrus keeps the short film The ACTT inside the guardrails for an entertaining look at a community theater production gone wrong. The film opens with theater director Martin Givens (Andrew Medieros) casting the next show. He is working with his usual cast and crew, including Shelly Kane (Cameron Long), an aspiring actress whose claim to fame is a stint as an understudy in a regional production of “Little Women.” Shelly is used to being the biggest fish in a little pond, but her presence is eclipsed by the arrival of professional actress Jamie Peters (Ria Meer). Jamie is between paying gigs and decides to come help out the local theater group in the meantime.
Film director Don Spikes (Colby Cyrus) provides the source material, an adaptation of his film Tears of a Sparrow, for the stage. As Martin tries to balance the various competing interests and egos, he is challenged with the obligation to tell the assembled group that they are out of money. He reveals that the video we are watching is an entry to make a case for an arts grant that would fund the show.
“…an entertaining look at a community theater production gone wrong.”
The ACTT is absurd, funny, and touching, all inside the space of 17 minutes. With nearly zero production value, the film is shot in a shaky-cam style at a small theater with natural light and no soundtrack. The power of the film is in the performances, and all of the players bring precisely the right energy to their parts. The ending sticks the landing, with the viewer fully invested in the drama behind the scenes and hoping the show goes on.
Rob Reiner and Christopher Guest perfected this genre with This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, and Waiting for Guffman, to mention only three of an entire slate of perfect send-ups. They are made up mostly of improvised scenes where overly sincere people do outrageous things to further their artistic endeavors. Every parody doc owes something to them, and Cyrus, along with writer Andrew Medeiros, follows the rubric with grace and skill. The filmmakers of The ACTT give a masterclass here on how to make a solid, entertaining film with no budget.
"…a masterclass here on how to make a solid, entertaining film with no budget."
