By Kelsey Rogers, Assistant Living & Arts Editor
A 90s-themed play with a twist comes to life in “She Kills Monsters,” which will be showcased from March 1 to March 4 in Weber Chapel Auditorium. All performances will take place at 7:30 p.m., with the exception of the final performance which will take place at 2:30 p.m.
Directed by adjunct professor of theatre Aaron White and originally written by Qui Nguyen, this dramatic comedy takes the famous fantasy roleplaying game “Dungeons & Dragons” and brings it to life.
The protagonist, college aged Agnes, is preparing to move out of her childhood home after her family’s death in a car accident. Before leaving, she discovers a “Dungeons & Dragons” notebook that belonged to her teenage sister. Desperate to salvage any remaining connection between her and her deceased sibling, Agnes embarks into the journey that lies beneath the pages within the planned notebook.
The setting switches back and forth from the “Dungeons & Dragons” universe to reality as Agnes uncovers more information about her sister and tries to make connections with the people that were in her life.
Agnes is played by sophomore Lena Costello. Costello said her cast members often say she is similar to Agnes.
“I relate to her a lot. I had zero experience with ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ before,” Costello said. “I’m scared of the same things she’s scared of.”
Relating to the character on such a personal level has allowed for Costello’s performance to be easy.
“For the first part of the show, [Agnes] is very inexperienced with playing the game and being in the situations she’s in,” Costello said.
“She’s kind of thrown into new things, so it was easy to do that because it was as new to her as it was to me.”
An element of the play that will be sure to entertain audience members is the sword fighting between characters.
Sophomore Kelsey Dowling who plays the counterpart characters Lilith and Lily, said it has been an absolute joy to learn how to sword fight.
“It’s really just super empowering to be able to wield a sword,” Dowling said. “I fight with a four-foot sword with a curved blade. That sword carries so much weight, so being able to completely lop somebody in half with it feels so powerful.”
Dowling said the weaponry used makes them feel especially powerful because they are portraying a powerless character who is queer.
“She’s able to juxtapose that with being so powerful and so strong and loud,” Dowling said.
Throughout the play, social issues are addressed regarding the LGBT community and how others react to people coming out of the closet.
Dowling said there is a conversation that goes on in the play about what is safe and what is not safe.
“We are looking at a play that is set in the 90s in Athens, Ohio. So you’re looking at a rural area not so different from Selinsgrove,” Dowling said. “Where being closeted is simply a safety precaution as opposed to self-oppression.”
“I think specifically in 2018 where we’re in such a political turmoil and such a dangerous climate for queer students, we need conversations like this,” Dowling said.
The play will feature various elements from the 90s such as featuring a garage band playing music from alternative artists such as “Smashing Pumpkins” and “Smash Mouth.”
“The concept that we had this for was it to be like if you went to someone’s basement to play D&D,” Dowling said.
“She Kills Monsters” features seniors Kat Cardenas, Marisa Cedeno and Abby Conway, sophomores Lena Costello, Kelsey Dowling and Matt Lucero, and first-years Naomi Cohen, William Davies, Precious Emmanuel, Samuel Emmanuel, Annabelle Lucas and Dylan Taylor.
Other theatre productions this academic year include “Topdog/Underdog” in March and “Blue Stockings” in April.
