Dungeons and Dragons came to life on stage at Hartmann Center with the premiere of “She Kills Monsters” last night.
Running until Nov. 18, the production is a coming-of-age story set in the world of the popular fantasy game, Dungeons and Dragons. It follows Agnes Evans, who has lost her parents and younger sister, Tilly.
Agnes embarks on an adventure to learn more about the sister she never really had and herself as she discovers the world inside Tilly’s notebook.
“She goes through all the typical stages of the mythic quest,” director Scott Kanoff said. “She even ends up fighting a dragon at the end of it.”
Kanoff said he believes the audience will connect with the characters, Agnes’ journey and the action sequences.
“Thematically, I think it’s a really resonant play for our students,” Kanoff said. “The issues of bullying and empowerment of young women, sexual identity and it’s all wrapped up in a dungeons and dragons adventure, which makes it really fun, really goofy and very compelling.”
Alicia Vazquez, junior theatre arts major, plays Agnes Evans and said she can relate to Agnes’ desire to step out of her comfort zone.
“One of her biggest struggles is that she doesn’t want to be boring or average,” Vazquez said. “She wants to do something different … That’s one of the biggest things that I related to, I also want to be cool.”
Vazquez said that this is her first principle role, and it was a challenge learning the new skills that came with the fight choreography of about a dozen combat scenes.
“I really love productions that are out of this world, out of the reality,” Vazguez said. “We fight demons and we fight literal Gods … Some of my favorite moments are us arguing about what would happen in the world of Dungeons and Dragons.”
Jacob Winkle, junior history and theatre arts double major, portrays Orcus who just wants to stay in his cave and watch “Friends” instead of helping the team. However, he is reluctantly dragged along and grows close to the group.
“He’s kind of a clown,” Winkle said. “He is the former demon overlord of the underworld and basically the team needs him to guide them along the way.”
Winkle said that he had a lot of liberties with what he wanted to do with Orcus and is able to learn more about him every time he walks on stage.
“It was a learning process to keep building with that much time, character wise, and learning not to get attached to certain actions that I do and learning to keep things fresh constantly was hard,” Winkle said.
Kanoff also gave Susan Falk, sophomore theatre arts major, the freedom to play around with the role after they realized it was not working out the way the character was written.
According to Falk, Kaliope was serious and poised before she played around with the character’s personality. Now she is seen as curious, cute and filled with high energy.
“[I went] off the fact that one of her first lines literally starts with the word ‘curious,’” Falk said. “Through that I kind of found her and where she lives in me.”
Kanoff said that the department was looking for a show that could involve everyone and be a full-semester project. This includes a set built at Bradley and usage of dramatic lighting. Objects include a behemoth eyeball and a huge gelatinous cube.
“It was all the things we want to do in theater wrapped up in one very, very challenging big package,” Kanoff said.
The director said he was impressed with the cast’s ability to balance a 20-hour rehearsal week and schoolwork. Winkle found a way to cope with the stresses that can come with having a lot to do.
“There’s so many things going on, but the biggest thing is getting in the rehearsal room and letting everything out the door and just focus on what you’re doing, so that’s been helpful with life in general. Just keep it present,” Winkle said.
Kanoff said that it is the age of the geeks, and the production celebrates that.
photo by Katelyn Edwards
‘She Kills Monsters’ runs now until Nov. 18 at the Hartmann Center.
