| She Kills Monsters | |
| Setting: | Athens, Ohio, c. 1995 |
| Place: | The Flea Theater, New York City |
| Genre: | Comedy-drama, Fantasy/Adventure |
She Kills Monsters is a drama-comedy play by Qui Nguyen that debuted in 2011. It tells the story of Agnes Evans, an average woman who loses her parents and little sister Tilly in a car accident. Having been very distant from her sister while she was alive, Agnes embarks in an adventure to get to know her sister better by playing a Dungeons & Dragons module that Tilly had written, and discovers things she'd never imagined. The plot takes place in reality and in the imaginary game world; in the game world Agnes learns about Tilly's exploration with her sexuality and how she struggled with her sexuality in reality. The play is also presented in a "Young Adventurers Edition" which removes the explicit language and ages down some of the characters.
Agnes Evans is a completely average woman who strives to be nothing but average until the day she wishes her life were a little less boring. Her wish unfortunately comes true when her family, including her younger sister Tilly, dies in a car crash. Agnes was never close to Tilly because they were interested in completely different things; Agnes loved mainstream pop culture, while Tilly had a passion for everything classified as nerdy or geeky, with a special love for Dungeons & Dragons. As Agnes is cleaning and packing Tilly's room in order to move everything to her place, she finds a module Tilly had written for D&D. In order to get closer to the sister she never really knew, Agnes embarks on her own adventure with the help of Dungeon Master Chuck to play the game as Tilly designed. As she delves deeper into her quest, the fantasy world and reality begin to collide and mix as Agnes searches to connect with Tilly and realizes how much of her sister she never knew.[1]
Nguyen intentionally wrote the characters in a way that allowed for actors of any race to be cast into every role, "We wanted to see the diversity you would find on the New York subway onstage."[2]
She Kills Monsters received its Off-Off-Broadway debut at The Flea Theater in New York City on November 4, 2011, and it ran until December 23.[3] [4] Directed by Robert Ross Parker, the production was performed by the resident company of actors of The Flea Theater called The Bats.The play was presented later at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago from February 15 to April 21, 2013.[5] It was directed by Scott Weinstein and it featured the Buzz22 Chicago Company as the cast.The play reprised at the Company One Theater in Boston from April 13 to May 11, 2013, directed by Shira Milikowsky.[6]
Following a 2013 award by the American Alliance for Theater and Education, the play has,, been staged close to 800 times, mostly by high schools and colleges. Some of these productions have done well, including a 2018 production which won a state contest. In response to requests by schools, Nguyen wrote a version of the play, dubbed She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition, that included less profanity and also changed Agnes into a high school cheerleader. Later, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nguyen wrote a version designed to be performed online, called She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms. Changes include depicting the climactic battle through dice-rolling rather than a physical fight, as well as setting the entire play in 2020 and updating its pop culture references accordingly.
In October 2021, after weeks of rehearsal, a production of She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition at Hillsboro High School in Highland County, Ohio was cancelled by Hillsboro City Schools Superintendent Tim Davis, allegedly on the grounds that "one of its characters might be gay".[7] [8] [9] [10] In a statement, Davis said, "The fall play has been canceled this year because the play was not appropriate for our K-12 audience." Students subsequently started a GoFundMe campaign to mount the production independently of their school. Within a week of its launch, the campaign had more than tripled its $5,000 goal.[11]
In February 2024, Fort Atkinson High School principal Leigh Ann Scheuerell prohibited the school's drama club from performing the play.[12] The Daily Jefferson County Union later reported that Sheuerell said her decision had "nothing to do with the sexual orientation of a character.”[13] The club performed Alice in Wonderland instead.
| Agnes Evans | Satomi Blair | Katherine Banks | Paige Clark Perkinson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tilly Evans/Tillus the Paladin | Allison Buck | Jessica London-Shields | Jordan Clark |
| Chuck | Jack Corcoran | Richard Traub | Mike Handelman |
| Steve | Edgar Eguia | Jose Nateras | Noam Ash |
| Orcus/Ronnie | Raul Sigmund Julia | Morgan Maher | Stewart Evan Smith |
| Miles | Bruce A. Lemon | Fred Geyer | Jordan Sobel |
| Kaliope Darkwalker/Kelly | Megha Nabe | Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary | Adobuere Ebiama |
| Lillith Morningstar/Lilly | Margaret Odette | Sara Sawicki | Meredith Saran |
| Vera | Brett Ashley Robinson | Daeshawna Cook | Jamianne Devlin |
| Evil Tina | Allie Long | Kaitee Tredway | |
| Farrah | Nicky Schmidlein | ||
| Evil Gabby | Ellie Reed | Jacqui Baker | |
| Narrator |
In She Kills Monsters, Agnes discovers Tilly was a lesbian and used her Dungeons & Dragons campaign as an outlet for her struggles of being out in school, yet "in the closet" with her family. The play brings complex LGBTQ characters to the stage who fulfill goals outside of their sexuality and are well-rounded characters.[15] The sexuality of characters is not the main focus of the play, which normalizes non-heterosexual characters.[16] She Kills Monsters also goes through the storyline of coming out to close family, a difficult moment for those in the LGBTQ community. It creates a serious discussion on the understanding of people and the reactions that many experience when revealing their sexuality.[17]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Drama Desk Awards[18] | Outstanding Costume Design | Jessica Pabst | |
| Outstanding Sound Design in a Play | Shane Rettig | |||
| GLAAD Media Awards[19] | Outstanding New York Theater: Off-Off Broadway | |||
| ITBA Patrick Lee Award[20] | Outstanding Off-Off Broadway Play | |||