She Kills Monsters
By Qui Nguyen
Directed by Randy Baker
Fight Choreography by Casey Kaleba
August 15, 2014-September 14, 2014
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ABOUT THE 2019 REVIVAL
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OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE:
Saturday, August 30 at 8pm
THIS PAGE IS FOR THE 2014 PRODUCTION
For the 2019 production CLICK HERE
It’s the 1990s in suburban Ohio and Tilly lives among the most fearsome creatures known to man: American high school students. She copes with the stress by creating an elaborate Dungeons & Dragons module where she plays out her fears and fantasies in a world she controls. When Tilly dies unexpectedly, her older sister Agnes has no choice but to run the gauntlet of this mysterious world, battling and befriending the strange and fantastic monsters her sister has created.
“She Kills Monsters is bad ass. Fight Choreographer Casey Kaleba mounts some truly exhilarating brawls, featuring spears, axes, and even a curious gelatinous cube. Like kids with no adult supervision, the dozen cast members leap joyfully between the angular platforms that make up Ethan Sinnott’s excitingly dynamic set. Together with a clever and provoking lighting design by Brian S. Allard, She Kills Monsters lends itself to a lot of testosterone-flavored cheering. But don’t be fooled by the demons, elves, and references to 90′s cult TV series. This is a play about real people who confront real tragedy. Director Randy Baker displays superb agility in his ability to hop from deadly earnestness to D&D mayhem in a flash. Baker sacrifices neither substance nor spectacle as he tells us a story about, well, people who tell stories.” — DC Metro Theater Arts
“The production, directed with some clever touches by Randy Baker, is enveloped in a cheeky, pop-cultural nostalgia… [But] the affecting conclusion of “She Kills Monsters” affirms it as more than a glib riff on nerd culture. Agnes may have to become immersed in make-believe to connect with Tilly, but what she gains through all the shenanigans feels real.” — Washington Post
“HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Though Dungeons & Dragons has often been characterized as an escapist crutch for those struggling in gym class, She Kills Monsters channels the game’s traits of imagination and innovation allowing Agnes to come face to face with her and her sister’s demons and in the end prevailing mightily. The warning at the beginning of the play proves accurate: D&D is not therapy. It’s shock therapy.” — DC Theatre Scene
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FEATURING Claire Aniela, Tori Boutin, Louis E. Davis, Joshua Dick, Maggie Erwin, Amanda Forstrom, Rebecca Hausman, Emma Lou Hébert, Emily Kester, Robert Pike, Seth Rosenke and Rachel Viele
DESIGNED BY Brian S. Allard (Lighting Designer), Palmer Hefferan (Sound Designer), Britney Mongold (Props Designer), Ethan Sinnott (Set Designer) and Debra Kim Sivigny (Costume Designer)
WITH Becky Reed (Stage Manager), Kristen Pilgrim (Assistant Director), Megan Reichelt (Dramaturg), Sarah Taurchini (Dance Choregraphy), Christian Sullivan (Technical Director), Jeanie McAlpine (Master Electrician), Medha Marsten (Assistant Stage Manager)
PRODUCED BY Randy Baker and Jenny McConnell Frederick
Performing at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H Street NE, Washington DC 20002)
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She Kills Monsters is sponsored in part by generous contributions from:
The Share Fund, Pete Miller & Sara Cormeny, Jeffrey Cunard, The Dobranski Foundation, Carl & Undine Nash, John Nilsson & Jennifer Knight and Victor Shargai
