The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present the student-directed full-length play “She Kills Monsters” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 25, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 26, in Regents Suite A in the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA campus.
Directed by Sara Clark, Plano senior theatre major, “She Kills Monsters,” by Qui Nguyen, is a story about love and loss and overcoming grief, and it is a story “for all the nerds out there who grew up with things like Dungeons and Dragons and who always felt like an outsider; this is a play for the outsiders who can finally see themselves represented on stage,” according to Clark.
Agnes Evans has always been a completely average girl with a completely average life. She has an estranged relationship with her teenaged sister, Tilly Evans, who is unusual in every way Agnes is not. On the night of her college graduation, Agnes wishes for her life to change. She gets her wish when Tilly and her parents tragically die in a car crash, turning her life upside down. Now all Agnes has left of her sister is her Dungeons and Dragons campaign she wrote for her friends. Agnes teams up with local Dungeon Master, Chuck, and goes on the adventure Tilly left behind – one filled with demon queens, giant slime monsters and discovery – as she gets to know her strange little sister better than she ever knew her when she was alive. Can Agnes defeat Tiamat and save the lost soul of Athens? Only time will tell.
“We all get to experience the world that teenaged Tilly Evans created before her untimely death and have that escape from the real world she wanted to create for her friends and anyone else who might play,” Clark said. “It is an adventure unlike any other, and I just can’t wait to bring it to this community. ‘She Kills Monsters’ has been a favorite show of mine for years, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of a production. I’m so beyond excited to be directing it.”
The cast features Kelsey Lesseig, New Braunfels senior, as Agnes Evans; Olivia Cantrell, Cedar Park junior, as Tilly Evans; David Smith, Nacogdoches freshman, as Chuck; Nathan Lemmo, Spring freshman, as Miles; Kiya Green, Waxahachie sophomore, as Kelly; Macy Burns, Temple freshman, as Lilith/Lilly; Alexis Hargy, Houston senior, as Vera/Evil Gabbi/The Beholder; Dani Wilson, Denton junior, as Narrator/Evil Tina/Farrah the Faerie; Kaleb Calton, Katy freshman, as Orcus/Ronnie; and Sami Hurley, Dallas sophomore, as Steve.
The crew includes Georgetown junior David Cleghorn, stage manager; The Woodlands senior Dorie Bloodworth, assistant director; Wylie junior Natalie Elderbloom, scenic designer and technical director; Duncanville senior Gaby Trevino, costume designer; Houston senior Cynthia Tovar, lighting designer; and Wylie junior Josiah Richardson, sound designer.
The play is recommended for mature audiences. Faculty production advisor is Dr. Slade Billew.
Tickets are $6. To purchase tickets, visit the SFA Fine Arts Box Office online at boxoffice.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407. Available tickets may be purchased at the door. For more information about the play, call the School of Theatre at (936) 468-4003 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu.