GAG REFLEX performer Miela Anich on mood boards, music, and channeling her teenage self.
1. How do you begin?
I always begin by sitting down and locking myself in to read the play. Not focusing on any characters, just enjoying the world in its entirety. After the first read, I then come back again for a second read a few days later - starting to focus on my character and their relationships with the other characters. This is a bit slower as I start to dissect and discover more about my character. Once I get a feel for who my character is, their personality, I create a Pinterest board and put in any images that prompt feelings and emotions to unlock my characters deeper narrative.
2. What’s your favourite way to work?
My favourite way to work is through music. I love creating playlists, songs that I think my character will listen to - what’s their go-to song if they wanna have a boogie in their bedroom? If there are some moments in my art that don’t quite land or I’m not connecting with, I find that music helps me find the meaning where I’m sometimes blocked by words or thinking. And ultimately, I strive to have fun. Even in the challenging moments I always try to find pleasure and joy.
3. What are you experimenting with in GAG REFLEX?
I’m experimenting with the pacey-fast-almost-cutting-off dialogue in Gag Reflex. I’m excited to channel my own teenage-self as the script reminds me so much of how when you’re with a group of friends you can’t get the words out quick enough out of fear that the subject will change before you know it! Flick’s writing affords this style and I’m excited to see where we can earn our pauses and make more of our sustained moments.
Miela Anich is a Naarm-based actor originally from Gimuy (Cairns), Far North Queensland. She is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts with a BFA in Acting (2021). In 2025, Miela made her acting debut with Melbourne Theatre Company as Hero/Borachio in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ (dir. Mark Wilson). Her other stage credits include, ‘MinusOneSister’ (dir. Marni Mount), ‘How To Be A Person When The World Is Ending’ (dir. Meg Dunn), ‘Slutnik’ (dir. Tansy Gorman), ILBIJERRI Theatre Company’s social impact project, ‘The Score’ (dir. Kamarra Bell-Wykes) which toured regionally, ‘Goodbye Aunty Flo’, (dir. Rachael Maza), ‘Get Your Geek On’ (dir. Corey Saylor Brunskill), Australian Shakespeare Company’s production of ‘The Crucible’ (dir. Syd Brisbane and Tony Rive) and, ‘OMG I’m Blak!’ (dir. Maryanne Sam). Miela was an Associate Director for ILBIJERRI x Melbourne Theatre Company’s ‘Blak in the Room’.
Image by Darren Gill from Maryanne Sam's Oh My God I'm Blak!
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