This fall, our school is putting on a play called She Kills Monsters. It is a drama-comedy set that follows a girl in her senior year of high school named Agnes Evans. Agnes strives to live an ordinary life, which is in direct contrast with her younger sister, Tilly Evans, who strives to do the extraordinary. The two become estranged, but when Tilly dies, Agnes seeks to learn more about her geeky, younger sister. She finds a Dungeons & Dragons module her sister made and decides to play it. Along the way, Agnes makes new friends and learns parts of Tilly’s life she was previously unaware of, including her exploration and struggles with her sexuality and the bullying she faced in school. 

I interviewed the director and several members of the cast and production.  Sophia La Rosa, who plays a demon named Lilith in the D&D world and a teenager who was Tilly’s friend in the real world, said her character was for young girls and women who like badass women. She also described her character as someone people in the LGBTQ+ community would be able to identify with. She said her favorite parts of Lilith are how cool, strong, and assertive she is. Sophia does not like that Lilith’s only real emotional connection is with Tilly.

Hiehie Kirby, who plays Tilly, said her character was for people who are shy and like to have someone to look up to, those who need a hero. Her favorite parts of her character are Tilly’s confidence and sarcasm. Hiehie also stated she loved how Tilly allowed her to show a more confident and outgoing part of herself. Her biggest challenge playing this character was that she started late because the original had to drop out. 

The stage manager, Ella Weis, said this play would be great for people who play D&D. If you don’t play D&D, it is still a great play to see for its great plot, to experience the atmosphere of theater and support your local school. She stated the biggest challenge so far has been rebuilding the drama team after two years of no drama and the consolidation. She thinks that when people leave the play, they will likely be thinking of the more serious aspects of the play, that will most likely touch them. They may also think about playing Dungeons and Dragons if they haven’t already. She believes that the play will be especially engaging because it is high schoolers playing high schoolers and because it is very humorous.

The play is directed by Mr. Lambert. His biggest challenge has been directing the play during Covid-19. So far, we have had two of the actors have to leave briefly to get tested and quarantined. He believes audiences will be interested in the fun story. He believes this play is special because it was picked by students and it is teenagers play characters their own age. He believes this allows us to let out our creative outlets better and that his experience as a stage actor allows him to help the actors really bring their characters to life. 

If you want to see this fun play and support are school’s drama programs, program dates are as follows:

7 pm on Friday, November 5

7 pm on Saturday, November 6

12:00pm on Sunday, November 7

7 pm on Thursday, November 11 (% of proceeds towards veterans)

7 pm on Friday, November 12

7 pm on Saturday, November 13

7 pm on Sunday, November 14

Some pictures of the process: