Meet "Divine Comedy" Cast Member Meaghan Bloom Fluitt
"I love anti-heroes, martyrs, the misunderstood hero or villain. We're complicated, contradictory creatures, even though we want to be able to explain and understand everything."
Meaghan Bloom Fluitt has always been attracted to characters with a cause.
Whether it is the hero or the villain, she is drawn to the contradictory natures of roles that are simultaneously easy to define but also bursting with complications. As an actor, she has been able to explore all of these possibilities with curiosity and delight.
Meaghan plays young actress Camila Perichole in “The Coach of The Holy Sacrament,” by Prosper Mérimée, the comic, but true tale of the conflicted romance between Perichole and an elderly Spanish Viceroy in late 18th century Peru. The play is one of two “heavenly” comedies featured in The Storm Theatre Company and Blackfriars Theatre Company co-production of “Divine Comedy,” directed by Peter Dobbins.
"Mérimée sets up Perichole as a vapid and shallow woman, and many of the characters sincerely think that is all there is to her,” Meaghan said. “She knows that it's a man's world that she lives in, and that no one is really going to help her or stand up for her, unless she does so herself.”
Meaghan’s first foray into the theatre world began at Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied theatre and creative writing. There she participated in an array of productions, including an original play written by a fellow Sarah Lawrence graduate Neil Knox (winner of the John Cauble Short Play Award in 2006).
“I've always been drawn to the characters that are willing to put everything on the line for a cause or a person they believe in.”
During her junior year, Meaghan traveled abroad to London to attend the British American Drama Academy. There, she immersed herself in the arts by attending multiple theatrical productions, taking comedic and classical courses, and performed in a production of Twelfth Night as the bumbling but audacious Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
Following her graduation, Meaghan moved to New York City and has since appeared in numerous stage productions, including "Tragedy of Tragedies" with the Medicine Show Theatre, "The Smoking Section" at the Fringe Festival, and productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Gorilla Rep and The Storm Theatre Company.
“I started out in classical theatre, so I've been lucky to play roles like Titania and Helena from A Midsummer Night's Dream,” she shared. “My stature leads me to get cast as some very strong women, but my personality brings out their quirkier attributes.”
Recently, Meaghan played Elizabeth, a sniper and all around kick-butt chick with a bit of a snarky side, in the independent film SEALS. Her other screen credits include "The Stick Up Kids," "Blindfold," "Scene of the Rhyme," and the Oxygen Media Network television show "My Crazy Love."
As a six foot one inch racially ambiguous knockout, Meaghan also works as a model for print, commercials, and runway. Additionally, she is a founding member of the NYC-based short form comedy improv group SayWhat?!NYC.
“I truly believe that important issues and ideas can be explored through art in various forms, and especially through theatre and cinema. It's how I most relate to the world around me, and I want to be able to share that.”
See Meaghan perform in “Divine Comedy” running Sept. 30 through Oct. 22, at Grand Hall. Tickets can be purchased at www.SmartTix.com.
*Special Event: Saturday, Oct. 1, join the Storm Theatre family for a post-show party with complimentary drinks for only $18. For details, click here.
