Grab your character sheets and swords, and get ready for this year’s fall play! Eastern Theater’s latest production will be She Kills Monsters, a 2011 comedy-drama penned by Qui Nguyen. While at surface level the show may seem like nothing more than a love-letter to D&D, it tackles the subjects of loss and teenage sexuality in a refreshingly innovative way. 

  Set in 1995 in the town of Athens, Ohio, the story centers around high school senior Agnes Evans, whose freshman sister, Tilly, tragically passed away in a car accident. A year after her death, Agnes discovers that Tilly’s favorite hobby was playing Dungeons and Dragons. So, in an attempt to learn more about the sister she barely knew, Agnes dives full on into a D&D module which Tilly wrote. Through the help of other D&D players from her school, Agnes is able to complete a quest, while also learning more about her little sister.

   She Kills Monsters will be Eastern’s first live, indoor production in front of an audience since A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum way back in November of 2019. Since then, the theatre club recorded and aired a production of It’s a Wonderful Life and mounted a full scale production of Seussical on the football field at McAleer Stadium. 

   Senior Annette Kroes, who plays Agnes, discussed the perks of being back in the Performing Arts Center. 

  “There’s a different, immersive experience when you’re on a stage with a set in a confined space, as opposed to being on the football field with all that space around you,” she said.

   Being back in the theater isn’t the only new aspect that comes with She Kills Monsters, as the show also discusses teen sexuality and the LGBTQ+ community. Over the course of the story, Agnes learns that Tilly was gay and had a crush on her classmate Lilly. In one particular scene, Agnes confronts Tilly in a rather blunt and ignorant way, which was a typical response for a time like 1995, but one that feels out of place today.

  Dr. Molotsky, director of the production, commented on the show’s LGBTQ+ themes.

“It’s common to the students at school now, it’s no big deal. But it was certainly something that wasn’t happening in the 1980s and 1990s at the time. I think it’s great that we have characters on stage that are expressing now rather than the values of 1980 or 1950,” he said.

  While certainly “out there,” She Kills Monsters represents a new age of theater, where a story taking place in 1995 is now a period piece and D&D nerds are portrayed as superheroes. It’s definitely not your typical play, but She Kills Monsters ignites that little part of geek in all of us. While having a laugh-out-loud script, it manages to create a storyline and characters that the audience can easily connect to.

   Overall, She Kills Monsters is unlike any show you’ve seen before. As Dr. Molotsky says, it’s expressing now, and doing so in a fun, unique way. Eastern’s production will run from November 18th to November 20th; hope to see you there!