A Review of She Kills Monsters

Sarah Ulsher

 

BY SARAH ULSHER

 

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen and directed by Matt Schmidli was an appropriately-time (during Halloween season) last show to put on, starring some old and new thespians, which made for a great mix as the last show. The show starred Kathleen Watz, Paul Hathaway, Chris Grisafe-Pont, Stockton Gruenwald, Lily Buehler, Polly Johnson, Courtney Haid, Maddy Miles, Gabby Scheberle, Trinity Hodges, and Xander Penzato. The plot starts shortly after Agnes’ (Buehler) sister’s death,Tilly (Watz), as she navigates realizing she didn’t know her sister at all. So begins an adventure of Dungeons and Dragons, where monsters must be vanquished to unlock the past of Tilly.

 

With Mabee Theater’s life coming to an end, it seemed necessary to attend its last full production. As someone who has performed on Mabee’s stage my last three years at RU, it was nice to be on the other side of things for once. Albeit, it was bittersweet to know it was one of the last times I would be able to spend time in the theater. It greatly saddens me that Mabee is about to be no more, as the Spring semester will bring an entire renovation of Sedgwick Hall, Mabee’s home.

 

Nevertheless, the show must go on. And it did.

 

I enjoyed the show and appreciated how the actors took plot holes and problematic plot issues in stride and really made it their own. Lily Buehler [12] played the protagonist, Agnes, and did a fantastic job showing the anxiety surrounding a character who realizes she may not even know her own family member.

 

The show touched on some emotional real-life moments, and did a great job showing someone going through the grief process, such as when Agnes meets some of Tilly’s friends, and Tilly’s spirit is able to live on through them.

 

I would have liked to see more battle scenes, and longer ones, and actual choregraphed fight scenes, since the Dungeons & Dragons campaign took on various monsters. The fight scenes felt lackluster and were the only moments I did not feel lost in the show.

 

However, because of the overriding emotional tones of the play, and several laugh-out-loud moments, I found the show to be an appropriately well-done last Mabee spectacle. The character Scheberle played, the school counselor, had me wheezing with laughter as she yelled at high school students and tried to comfort her friend Agnes, and the gelatinous boyfriend-monster was hysterical. The comic relief was very well-times in this play.

 

When the curtain fell on the final performance of this year’s fall play, She Kills Monsters, it also closed the end of an era here at Rockhurst. The last thing to be done on stage in Rockhurst history is the upcoming Winter Theater Conglomeration, on November 21 and 22 at 7:30pm. These are all student directed, written, and acted songs, skits and scenes. Be sure to not miss it.