While our drama department is famous for their larger than life spring musicals, their fall plays continuously fly under the radar with the audience failing to fill even half of the auditorium. This lack of attendance is nothing short of criminal, and all who failed to attend the school’s production of She Kills Monsters missed out on a laugh-out-loud and heartfelt story. 

She Kills Monsters follows the story of 24 year old high school teacher Agnes Evans (sophomore Ashlee Bowers) as she navigates her way through life after the death of her parents and younger sister Agnes. 

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Having not understood her nerdy sister Tilly (junior Leah Pavey) before her death, Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons and Dragons ‘playbook’ that outlines the world and adventures Tilly created while she was still alive. In an attempt to learn more about the sister she had previously ignored, Agnes seeks out high school nerd Chuck (senior Curtis Druck) and asks him to guide her through the world Agnes created. 

As Chuck begins to read Tilly’s playbook, the world of dungeons and dragons comes to life, and the previously mundane sets become alive with color as larger than life projections of jungles and oceans paint the background of the stage. And while the imaginary world comes to life, Agnes meets Tillius (also played by Leah Pavey), the hero of Tilly’s magical land, along with Tillius’ campaign, composed of dark elf Kaliope (junior Kaley Gilland) and demon queen Lilith (senior Julieanne Gawlick). 

While initially confused by the oddity of this new world, Agnes is dragged with Tillius and the campaign for their first quest to free Tillius’ lost soul from the demon overlord Orcus (senior Luke Dodson). 

As audiences watch the group make their way to the underworld, they hold their breath in anticipation for the terrifying monster who is certain to be guarding Tillius’ lost soul. However, as the group enters the Overlord’s chambers with swords drawn for a fight, they are instead met with a slacker demon whose main past time involves watching The Real World and eating easy cheese. 

While confronting this surprising (and hilarious) new version of a demon overlord, Orcus reveals that he cannot give Tillius her soul back, because he had traded it to the evil three headed monster Tiamat in exchange for a ‘sweet’ new TV set. And so, Agnes, Tillius, the campaign, and Orcus embark on an adventure to defeat the Tiamat and retrieve Tillius’ lost soul. 

After this first adventure comes to an end, Agnes returns to the real world where the audience meets Agnes’ long term and commitment-fearing boyfriend Miles (junior Noah Kelley) along with Vinnie (senior Sam Greaves), the short tempered and overly honest guidance counselor at the school where Agnes is a teacher and Tilly used to be a student. 

The story continues to flip between reality and fantasy and occasionally blurs the lines between to two as the story takes a turn from comedic to touching while audiences watch Agnes become desperate to keep playing the game so she can cling to what she has left of Tilly. 

It is in the fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons that Agnes discover’s that Tilly had written all of the characters in her story to be gay, and through this discovery finds out that her sister had been a lesbian who’d been bullied and isolated from her peers.

But, it is in the real world that Agnes meets Tilly’s friends from real life and discovers that Tilly had written all of her friends into her Dungeons and Dragons fantasy and given them all powers that they wish they’d had in the real world. Through this discovery, Agnes realizes why the game had been so meaningful to her younger sister, and she is given the strength to return to the Dungeons and Dragons world and defeat the Tiamat herself. 

Narrated with Ava Carr’s powerful voice, and with impressive special effects performed and orchestrated by the tech department and stage crew, She Kills Monsters was a highlight in the Drama club’s theatre repertoire. 

With stand out performances given by Pavey and Bowers whose quick, sisterly banter and heart wrenching arguments made the show come to life. The surprising comedic relief provided by Greaves, Druck, and Dodson had the audience laughing out loud and added an element of lightness and humour to a potentially heavy story. She Kills Monsters was an incredible play that students were lucky to watch.