by Tierney Michon (Annette, God of Carnage)
Shock was the dominant feeling I had when I was cast in God of Carnage. I wasn’t going to audition for the show because I assumed I wasn’t old enough for any of the roles. But, on a whim, I decided that any auditioning experience would be beneficial before my move to Los Angeles this summer.
Audition experience is very important: a brief revival of creativity, a reminder of what it feels like to collaborate and create with others, an opportunity to read a new script for the first time…that is what I was expecting to get out of the audition. I was incredibly thankful that my expectations were exceeded and I accepted the role of Annette.
Playing older is something that I rarely get to do and I was eager to take on the challenge. Making myself seem capable of having a career, a marriage and an eleven-year-old child was my new priority.
The first rehearsals were spent going through the script slowly, breaking it up into small sections and talking about how each character is portrayed in that particular situation. We created back stories and had extensive, tedious homework that I kept in a small journal that accompanied me everywhere.
For me, pinpointing similarities and differences between Annette and myself in Venn diagram format was most beneficial to fleshing out her character. She stands straighter than I do, she takes herself far more seriously than I do, she is more organized than I am. I came up with pages of ideas (some more useful than others) and tried to incorporate them into my performance. A lot of these things might appear trivial, like wearing higher heeled shoes and putting on a bit of lipstick for rehearsal, but they were valuable tools. It’s incredible what a pair of shoes can do for someone — especially for a self-diagnosed shoe addict!
A strong foundation of character work, listening and responding to the others as honestly as possible and having a damn good time has made this one of the finest theatrical experiences of my life and I feel fortunate to be involved. I’m looking forward to facing future challenges in my acting career and trust that the time spent on this production has better prepared me for whatever is coming next.
For me, the challenge was playing younger. What a pleasure to be a member of this cast! See you on stage, Tierney.