Sophie D’Amore

Intro to Acting

Performance Review

Preaching to the Choir by Max McGuire follows a Connecticut high school choir in the

2017-2018 school year. Through a coming-of-age sequence of events, (involving a national

competition, a Valentine’s Day Dance, and lots of teenage drama) we watch Margot, a junior and

closeted lesbian discover her identity and navigate having a crush on a girl, Ellie. Through a

whirlwind of events, Margot competes in her state’s choir competition, develops a relationship

with Ellie, and learns to accept her identity despite the treatment of others. Max McGuire based

Preaching to the Choir somewhat on their own experiences in high school, making this a

semi-autobiographical piece.

As the actor who played Margot, I found this piece very interesting. Though I was told

that Margot was based off of Max, I tried not to make my interpretation exactly like them.

Knowing Max was an advantage and a downfall - I found myself getting stuck in accuracy.

Instead, I tried to find parts of Margot’s story that specifically resonated to me and used those to

base my character on. I felt that in her love of songwriting and music, her use of deflection, and

her growing acceptance of queer identity. Similarly, I tried to identify motivations that made

sense to me for everything she said in the script. Though this play was largely satirical and

comedic, it was rooted in a legitimate reality for LGBTQ+ teenagers in the United States. I

stopped worrying about what was accurate, and more on what was realistic in my body. From

there, I was able to include heightened reactions and exaggerated actions that come with a

comedy.
 Though Margot is the protagonist of this story, she is not always right. In the first drafts

of the play, she was downright mean to some of her friends. During these scenes, I had to

embody the emotional turmoil a person might have when coming to terms with their identity

while also navigating the dramatic and often stressful social events of a high school. She was not

always reasonable because she was sixteen and scared - so she took it out on the wrong things.

Since the play was in workshop while we were performing, I was able to give feedback to Max

about Margot’s odd outbursts. I felt that they were unnatural to the true integrity of the character.

Max listened to feedback from the whole cast, and applied it in many ways. Though she became

less mean and more avoidant in the final drafts of the play, I was still able to consider the ways a

person might react to fear. There was a shift from fight to flight; my emotions were the same, but

my actions were different. They felt much more natural. Margot went from yelling at her friends

in public to avoiding eye contact and hiding from confrontation.

One of the last things I had to consider when navigating Margot was how she would play

her instrument, the guitar. Since I was playing live in the show, I had to perform in a different

way from speaking. My vocal inflection, my posture, and my attitude would change a lot about

the scene. I tried to remain true to my character by emulating the nervousness when performing

but also enjoyment of music and sharing it with others.

Overall, I had a great experience studying Margot in Preaching to the Choir. I feel like I

was able to learn a lot about the importance of collaboration and trying to find grounding points

for your character.