‘She Kills Monsters’ Play Incorporates Puppets
Drama students, Olivia Roselli(11), Madeline Halliburton(12), Grant Halliburton(11) and Lily Shaw(11), practice their lines before callbacks for She Kills Monsters.
September 10, 2019
The Stallion Theater Company is producing the play She Kills Monsters, written by Qui Nguyen.
The play features Agnes, a senior in high school, whose freshman sister, Tilly has just passed away. Agnes is looking through her sister’s room when she finds Tilly’s Dungeons and Dragons set and decides to play the game to get to know who her sister really was.
Through the game, Agnes learns everything that her sister had gone through including bullying and questioning her sexuality, as well as discovers things about herself.
The play involves complex puppetry to make the game appear to be in real life. The puppets fall into three categories: shadow play, monsters and then the dragon.
“It’s all about not letting the forces outside affect who you are and your own self expression, and staying true to who you are no matter what”
— Graff
Shadow play works like a natural projector to reflect the movements of the puppets. The actors are transformed into the monsters from the game. The dragon is the largest puppet which consists of five heads and several actors to work it.
“I am taking inspiration from Julie Taymor, who directed the Lion King on Broadway, in how she utilizes actors to play the animals, but in this case, they’re monsters,” said senior Torie Schultz, the puppetry designer for the play.
This play will be a unique challenge due to the puppets.
“An additional challenge is just building the monsters in general… We’ve never done anything like this before, in the aspect of puppetry, but I am optimistic that it will turn out pretty well,” said Schultz.
Another interesting aspect of this play is the focus given to Agnes as a character, as she struggles to find who she is.
“It’s all about not letting the forces outside affect who you are and your own self expression, and staying true to who you are no matter what,” said Cambria Graff, the director of She Kills Monsters.
She Kills Monsters will be performed this fall in the theatre on campus from October 23 to October 26 at varying times. Click here to buy tickets.
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I’m so glad I read this! I didn’t know anything about the play and never really decided to search up any info, but thank you for giving me insight on the things that go on in our school’s theater. I hope to go watch it next month!