“In a time before Facebook, World of Warcraft, and Massive Multiplayer Online RPG’s, there once existed simply a game. Forged by the hands of nerds, crafted in the minds of geeks, and so advanced in its advanciness it would take a whole second edition to contain all its mighty geekery.” She Kills Monsters, by Qui Nguyen, opens with a narration introducing its audience to the world of Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game where adventurers can embark on epic quests. Set in 1995 in Athens, Ohio, She Kills Monsters is a story about the average Agnes Evans. She dives into the world of Dungeons and Dragons on a journey of discovery about her late sister Tilly. It’s full of magic, action, and 90s pop culture references.
She Kills Monsters slashes into the Westminster Campus on April 25th and April 26th at 7:00pm, and April 27th and April 28th at 2:00pm. It will take place in the Recital Hall on the second floor, room C-1661. At this time, tickets for all shows have sold out.
The Front Range production is being directed by theater instructor Josh Robinson. We sat down in the Recital Hall before it was time for rehearsal. I asked him when the Westminster Campus had its last production.
“That is a two-part question,” Mr. Robinson explained. “We’ve had student-driven productions where students were the directors and they did all the work. I served as a producer role where I was an intermediary with the college. There’s one we had in 2018. Before that, there were three or four shows that I directed. The last one I did that I directed was called Suburbia, by Eric Bogosian.”
Mr. Robinson began to compare Suburbia with the current production of She Kills Monsters.
“Suburbia was about community college kids hanging out in front of the Seven Eleven figuring out what the next step is. Our play is very different. It’s about someone coming to terms with loss. [It’s also about] someone who’s coming to terms with difference. The medium we get to see her do that in is by playing a Dungeons and Dragons game.”
“It first came out in 2012,” Mr. Robinson answered when I asked where he first heard of She Kills Monsters. “There was a production of She Kills Monsters at the Aurora Fox [Arts Center] that my friend Geofferey Kent directed. I took my daughter Fiona, who was in high school at the time, to see it. So I’ve been wanting to [direct] it for a long time.”
Mr. Robinson went on to express that community is the most important aspect of this production.
“I’ve wanted to do this in a school because I think a community college can be challenging for [students] to find their people. I don’t know a better way to create community than to put on a play. There are other good ways, but it’s what I know how to do and I know that it works. Watching people in the rehearsal room coming in early and staying late when they’re not in a scene to be around each other makes me happy.”
“Theater is not a pure subject. It’s sort of an amalgamation of different subjects,” Mr. Robinson articulated as he expanded on how theater creates community. “We have students from the acting class. I also have students from a sound composition class, a sound technology class, and the multimedia graphics design department doing projection for us. There are different possibilities for connections, not just with other departments within this campus, but across campuses. I have a student in this play who I had in a class at Larimer Campus last semester. Because I was teaching at Larimer, I met the sound professor who teaches sound design. His class is doing the sound design for this show as a class project. A lot of cross pollination happens when you put on a play.”
When I asked what was the most challenging aspect of directing for She Kills Monsters, Mr. Robinson showed me his notepad. “This is my to-do list,” he said. “On my to-do list of She Kills Monsters, you’ll see categories for lights, sets, props, projecting, and marketing. None of that has to do with being a director. And yet, because I’m the organizing principle and the loose-ends coordinator for this production, I end up wearing a lot of hats.”
Mr. Robinson did express there were upsides to the challenges he faced.
“There are so many times where I come to rehearsal [thinking,] ‘I don’t know how we’re gonna do this.’ And somebody in the cast has an idea. ‘That’s how we’re gonna do that!’ I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t have to have all the answers. That’s been a really great discovery.”
When I asked Mr. Robinson what message he hoped audiences would walk away with, he said, “I think this is a story about accepting both who you are and that we are all different. We all contribute something because we are different, not in spite of our differences. I also hope audiences will walk out with a smile on their face because I think it is touching, charming, funny, and silly.”
Many of the cast members echoed Mr. Robinson’s sentiments about She Kills Monsters. Danielle Mayer, a stage manager for the play, expressed, “D&D itself is already such a theater kid populated space. Having theater kids doing a production about D&D is like theater kid squared.”
Erin Neef, who plays the character Lilith, described what it was like working with her fellow castmates. “I like the collaboration that comes from it. Everybody does have their own part, but being able to respectfully critique, give advice, and give suggestions to make the show overall better and more cohesive is something I love being a part of.”
I concluded my interview with Josh Robinson by asking if he was excited for She Kills Monsters to be performed for audiences. With a huge grin, he answered, “Yes. Unreservedly so. I’m excited because the people in it are excited to be here and to be doing it. As long as that is true, then it will be a fun time for everybody who comes to see it.”
