‘She Kills Monsters’ @ Theatre Denton

—Sam Lisman

Heading into the closing performance of Theatre Denton’s run, the only thing I knew about Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters is that it has (remarkably) been staged more than 800 times since its two-month long debut run in New York City in 2011.  When you factor in the pandemic, that’s still about100 productions per year—more than a little impressive.

The play takes place in two worlds: the real one in the city of Athens, OH in 1995; and an imaginary Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) world called New Landia.  It’s the story of Agnes (Hayley Harp), a young English teacher who works at the high school she graduated from about seven years ago.  Agnes, we’re told by the Narrator (Hurley Clark) was in all ways average/normal until three years ago, when her parents and younger sister Tilly (Nixon Sanchez) were killed in a car accident.  Understandably, because of the age difference, the sisters were not close—in fact, they really didn’t have much of a relationship at all.

Finally packing up the family house in order to move into an apartment with her long-term boyfriend, Miles (Lee Brown), Agnes finds a D&D adventure that Tilly had created.  Tilly, it turns out, was—as the narrator points out—that rarest of species: a girl who loved D&D in the ’90s. (Precious few have ever been observed in the wild.) Tilly’s friend Chuck (Jamie Atkins), a Dungeon Master, offers to take Agnes through the adventure.  Agnes agrees, hoping this will help her to—what, understand? Appreciate? Get to know? Become closer to?—her dead sister.

In doing so, she enters her sister’s fantasy world—in which the people Tilly knows are able to be what Tilly wants them to be.  Agnes joins Tillus the Paladin in the Quest for the Lost Soul of Athens, accompanied by her two companions, Lilith Morningstar (Kayle Richey) and Kaliope Darkwalker (Hannah Todd), both of whom, Agnes points out, seem to have forgotten large parts of their costumes. (Female characters in D&D, as in comic books, are usually either scantily clad or in skin-tight outfits; as the old joke goes, neither those who produce nor those who consume such products dated much in high school.) 

In creating her character, Agnes is unfortunately labeled as Agnes the Ass-hatted. They’ll later be joined by Orcus (Manny Garcia), a demon who sold the lost soul—and sounds like Krusty the Clown. During the quest, they’ll encounter a hapless wizard (Roman Ponce), a powerful fairy (Andrea Edebor), and a pair of succubi (Hannah Kimble and Kay Burgess), who, subtly, have the word “evil” prepended to their names. [Editor’s note: Yes, he could pick easier words, but he wants you to look them up.]

While engaging in the adventure during her evenings, Agnes seeks guidance from friend Vera (Kristen Ray), who (helpfully) is the school’s guidance counselor, though (unhelpfully) she’s not very good at her job. (World’s Worst, in fact, doesn’t seem much of a stretch.) As all this occurs, Agnes (in the real world) meets each of the people her sister had cast in the role-playing fantasy.

The main reason for the popularity of She Kills Monsters, especially with youth and school theater groups, probably lies in its portrayal of high school outcasts as the real heroes.  Early on in the quest, Agnes learns that Tilly was not only gay, but in love with the girl upon whom Lilith is based.  In fact, Tilly has cast all the non-evil characters in her D&D world as gay, whether they are in the real world or not.  This, after all, was her fantasy (read: escape) world.  The succubi are actually a pair of cheerleaders who bullied and teased her for being both gay and a “loser.” In this world, at least, Agnes is able to fight these villains to protect her kid sister, something she obviously didn’t get a chance to do in the real world.

Towards the end of the play, it becomes increasingly apparent that Tilly wrote the adventure for Agnes as a learning exercise—though it’s not clear why Tilly assumes Agnes will ever see it. Did she have a premonition about the car accident? The script has several textual problems: one character doesn’t want to “play” because the show Quantum Leap is on—and actually becomes verklempt when describing the plot line—but the series was off the air by 1995, when the play is set.

Script issues aside, the design elements worked well.  Director Kerri Peters had her cast use their large stage to full effect; Kyle Wood’s set design featured multiple levels, steps, and a large ramp.  This was complimented by Les Deal’s lighting design and special effects, and Wood’s sound and projection.  But most impressive to me were the costumes by Nathan & Nicole Probst, which alternated between authentic D&D-style outfits and standard ‘90s fare (a Smashing Pumpkins tee-shirt, for example).  The fight scenes (directed by Ryan Davila) featured an impressive amount of athleticism, even if the weapons were made of foam.  There was even a dance-off and puppets (the latter by Erica Cole), while props were handled by Emily Kiser and the Probsts.

While I have misgivings about the book, it did have a self-awareness that was refreshing. It made clear, for instance, that while Tilly had written the outline and characters, her dialogue with Agnes wasn’t really her (she’d been dead for three years); it was actually her friend Chuck, the Dungeon Master, who was controlling everything in the adventure.  He was the one interacting with Agnes.  And many of the jokes—particularly Miles misunderstanding the term “role-playing”—were wonderfully funny.  It was well acted and well produced, but in some ways came off as a simple morality play about being good to the people around you, particularly those who are different.  This certainly isn’t the worst message in the world, but the fact is that She Kills Monsters lacks the nuance that plays like Mike Bartlett’s Bull or Robert Askins’ Hand to God bring to that subject. 

WHEN: June 2-11, 2023

WHERE: Historic Campus Theatre, 214 W. Hickory, Denton

WEB: theatredenton.com