Let’s face it. High school can be rough. You’ve got teens of all shapes, colors, and sizes tentatively developing adult identities while clinging to their innocence and the joys of childhood. Meanwhile, they’re coping with the pressure to be ”normal” and the intense need to be seen. Mix in grief, loss, or a global pandemic and you’ve got a potential recipe for disaster.
In this virtual reimagining of Qui’s Nguyen’s original She Kills Monsters, we find Agnes Evans searching for meaning after the tragic loss of her “geeky” younger sister Tilly. Agnes’s journey begins when she finds Tilly’s Dungeons and Dragons notebook and bravely chooses to confront her grief. Agnes looks beyond her average and “normal” existence to embark on an unimaginable adventure. Agnes and her team of adventurers proceed to courageously, and oftentimes comically, role-play Tilly’s stories. In the process, Tilly’s awesomeness and Agnes’s resilience are fantastically revealed.
I chose She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms as our first virtual play because I believed in its relatability. Nguyen provided us with the perfect vehicle to embark on our own unexpected journey. I am forever grateful that this amazing cast and crew chose to play this game with me in the face of so many unknowns. They bravely looked beyond the temporary loss of in-person theatre to discover that the true magic of theatre is boundless. It’s been an amazing experiment and I am in awe of their resilience, talent, creativity, hard work, and true love of theatre in all its forms. Come along and join our team of adventurers on this journey, and let’s all have some fun!
A special thank you to our Westfield Theatre Boosters for their willingness to think “outside the Black Box” during this unique process, none of this would be possible without our parents and their limitless support, and to Tony Copeland, Sonya Williams, and Terri Towle for their constant help and encouragement. Finally, to my husband for learning how to cook and holding down the fort!
