The fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons comes alive on stage at Westmont in She Kills Monsters, a play by Qui Nguyen. Presented by the Westmont Theatre Department and directed by Mitchell Thomas, She Kills Monsters is an earnest, female-forward adventure that offers hearty doses of comedy, pathos, and '90s nostalgia.
Tilly (Rachel Herriges) has died. This “geeky” teenager leaves behind a grieving sister, Agnes (Emily Derr), and a notebook containing the bones of one final D&D adventure. Agnes, who lives a more mainstream teenage experience, delves into Tilly’s fantasy world to make a posthumous connection with her sister.
This production is brimming with outstanding stagecraft. The slain monsters manifest on stage in a display of artistic puppetry by Christina McCarthy. Set design by Jonathan Hicks involves paper screens that allow for dramatic silhouette work, and fight choreography by Danielle Draper is robust and creative. Rachel Herriges plays Tilly with sincerity befitting her paladin character (and complexity befitting her teenage character), and Alaina Dean is hilarious as TV-addicted teen Ronnie (known in the D&D universe as Orcas, the bathrobe-wearing demon).