Sunshine: An interview with Meredith Montgomery

Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" had only four characters: two men and two women. In St. Edward's upcoming performance, one male and one female  role were filled by the professional actors Ev Lunning, Jr. and Babs George. This left only two slots for students. I interviewed the one female student in this production, Meredith Montgomery.

Montgomery will be portraying Honey, a young and petite wife of a new college professor. In the play, two  couples meet for drinks, revealing a history of dysfunction in both marriages.

When Montgomery found out that she had received the role, this was her reaction, she says, "I was really grateful and excited and looked forward to the opportunity and learning a lot. I knew from the beginning that it would be the biggest responsibility and challenge of my life."

Montgomery constantly alluded to her nerves towards the play which opens in less than two weeks. Since there are only four characters, the line load is strong in Who's Afraid? But Montgomery stated, "Lines were the easy part to handle and memorize, but everything else is extremely challenging. There is so much character work in such an epic show. Every day my anxiousness and nerves increase. I am working so hard to tame the beast."

Due to her current status as the sole female student in the production, Montgomery has been a topic of discussion among her peers. While she is proud to have been cast in such a leading role, Montgomery states that she is always looking for a new change in her life and her work. She stated, "Acting is about looking to the future constantly. I may be in a show now, but I don't know what I am doing in the spring."

Being put in a position above her peers is a concern, since the role was desired by many. Montgomery said, "I don't want to let anyone down, it is scary to think of people leaving the theatre saying 'Well, I could have played that role better than her.' I go, perform my work, and create my art. The real challenge is to rise to the occasion. I'm really scared of the reviews, because there is no place to hide. I still don't understand the magnitude of the reviews, and worry that if someone wrote something bad about my performance, all of my positive feelings might disappear."


Since theatre is a career of constant, even daily, rejection, Montgomery finds logical reasoning in the disappointments of the past. She states that, "It still hurts, but I tell myself 'I don't know what the director wants for their project, so I can't analyze it.' You can't get personally involved, and say that if you didn't get his then you will stop auditioning. Sports cliches are true, like 'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.' That's my personal motto, let it roll off my back and get out there and audition."





The play runs November 11-21st, and student tickets are $12. The theatre offers discounted tickets for students on the second Thursday performance.