She Kills Monsters

Dungeons & Dragons & Monsters, oh my!

Five+of+the+main+characters+in+the+winter+play+She+Kills+Monsters%2C+hold+up+each+of+the+dragon%E2%80%99s+head.+This+is+one+of+the+final+scenes+as+Agnes+tries+to+defeat+this+monster+called+the+Tiamat.+

Photo by Photo by: Ria Talukder

Five of the main characters in the winter play She Kills Monsters, hold up each of the dragon’s head. This is one of the final scenes as Agnes tries to defeat this monster called the Tiamat.

An action filled play with five-headed dragons, ogres, and sword fighting — She Kills Monsters brings the fantasy world to life in a comedic-drama as one girl loses herself in a game while finding out more about her lost sister.

While following Agnes Evans on a journey to rediscover her sister who passed away, audience members will get to see many relatable aspects, as the play is set in high school, Emmi Connick, senior who plays Agnes, said. While the play is centered around sisterhood, it also brings up issues in today’s society.

“Something that is really cool about She Kills Monsters is that it touches on LGBTQ issues that are in society today that we don’t really talk about that much and they aren’t expressed in many art forms that I have seen at our school,” Connick said. “It does touch upon those issues and we do see Tilly, Teah Mirabelli’s character, get bullied by girls and be outed for being gay, and I just think [the lesson] is really cool and something really important that we should be talking about.”

Agnes learns about Tilly’s life more as she plays the board game, Dungeons & Dragons. Through playing the game, Agnes meets characters who symbolize real people in Tilly’s life, Teah Mirabelli, junior who plays Tilly, said.

“They never really interacted much when [Tilly] was alive and now that she’s gone [Agnes] is finally realizing that she can’t believe she actually missed the time [to spend together],” Mirabelli said. “My character comes back to life in the game so [Agnes] starts learning about Tilly while she’s playing Dungeons & Dragons. Through it there are a bunch of different characters like Orcus and Kaliope and Lilith. She later finds out that Tilly drew up these characters from people who are actually a part of her life. Kiliapee was one of her friends and is actually in a wheelchair and in the game she gets to walk and fight. [The play] is a lot about sisterhood — that’s the main theme.”

Mirabelli learns more about sisterhood through acting in the play, as well as getting to spend time with her real sister, she said.

“I am excited since my little sister is actually in it and she plays a character who bullies me inside and outside the game. I think it is really cool the first show she does in high school, we get to do it together.”

In order to develop the journey of sisterhood, the winter play uses the opportunity to show the special effect and skills of the technical theater aspect, Mirabelli said.

“The coolest scene is one of the last scenes where five of us line up on the stage and there’s this thing called the Tiamat, which is a Dungeons & Dragons’ type monster, and it’s a five-headed monster,” Mirabelli said. “Five of the main characters which were already on stage line up and go with the colors of each of the heads of the dragons. It’s a blackout and they have these like paper giant dragon heads on these big black poles and they come out and it’s like we transformed into the Tiamat and this screen comes down and this is Agnes’ final fight and she slays all of these dragon heads with this cool background music.”

The scene as Mirabelli describes and more are coming together with all their technical aspects as the opening for show gets closer.

“I think I am most excited for this story to really come together,” Connick said. “We have been rehearsing since November now, but everything is just starting to come… because now we have all the technical aspects added and the set and sound and lighting. Our costumes are going to be added soon and props we haven’t had before. I am excited for our first dress rehearsal run through because I think that’s what the shows actually going to be like and it will be very exciting to see that come together.”

Anyone can see the show of fantasy role-playing come alive on February 1, 2, and 3 at 7pm in the PAC. Tickets are $7.50 for students and seniors and $9.50 for adults.