‘Uniquely nerdy’ show ‘She Kills Monsters’ headed to GPAC
Monsters, bullies, demon cheerleaders and evil dragons will be on the stage at the Geyer Performing Arts Center this weekend.
鈥溾�楽he Kills Monsters鈥� is my absolute favorite play,鈥� said director Jordan Gilbert, who was introduced to the play by her sister. 鈥淲e went to see it and have since gone to see every local production we possibly could together.鈥�
The play is the best known work of playwright Qui Nguyen and is full of high-energy scenes and off-color humor, drawing a lot of inspiration from anime and nerd culture influences.
鈥淪he Kills Monsters鈥� tells the story of Agnes Evans, who stumbles upon the 鈥淒ungeons and Dragons鈥� notebook of Tilly, her recently deceased sister. The discovery takes Agnes on an action-packed adventure to uncover more about her geeky sibling than she previously cared to know.
鈥淎gnes journeys into Tilly鈥檚 fantasy world, fighting monsters, demon cheerleaders and evil dragons with the help of Tilly鈥檚 friends,鈥� Gilbert said.
The journey helps Agnes learn about her sister, her life, her secrets and ultimately helps her come to terms with Tilly鈥檚 death.
鈥淚t manages to be hilarious, heartfelt, action-packed, larger-than-life and down-to-earth all at once,鈥� Gilbert said.
She said the show is 鈥渦niquely nerdy.鈥� It also hits home for her on a personal note as Gilbert said she鈥檚 a bit like Tilly and her sister is a bit like Agnes.
鈥淚 think audiences will love the humor,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur cast is really funny, and the script is fantastic.鈥�
Gilbert also believes the audience will love the monsters in the show. Constructing them was the most challenging aspect of the unique production.
She said most of the monsters were created by mask templates, which were downloaded and printed on recycled cardboard. The printings were bent and glued to create monsters, a process that took hours.
鈥淚 took the process several steps further by using paper mache, paint and lots of artistic details to make them our own,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淗undreds of hours of work went into these monsters. The process has been very rewarding, but definitely even more work than I originally expected.鈥�
The show calls for a cast of 10 with several actors playing multiple roles, but Gilbert said their version has a cast of 13 as she found that casting each character in an individual role added opportunities for more actors to participate.
鈥淪he Kills Monsters鈥� will be at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale on Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 17-19 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 20 at 2:30 p.m.
Admission is $12 per person, and tickets can be purchased at geyerpac.com.
Gilbert said the show features some mild adult content including violence, language and LGBTQ topics, and is recommended for audiences 13 and up.