Jaylynn Floyd
Staff Reporter
November 22, 2019
Gather your playing dice, boards, cloaks, and imagination, because an action-packed play about the famous game Dungeons and Dragons is coming to an auditorium near you. In fact, it is coming to Atholton High School on November 16th, 17th, and 21-23rd, so you will have the chance to see the long-awaited play, She Kills Monsters.
She Kills Monsters is an exhilarating comedy-fantasy play featuring a primarily female cast. It is centered around Agnes Evans, played by senior Cara Feezor, who discovers more about her sister, Tilly Evans, played by sophomore Anna Rodriguez, after Tilly’s death. With help from the Dungeon Master, Agnes goes on a crazy adventure of discovering who her sister was, all thanks to the famous game, Dungeons and Dragons.
The first step in producing the play was casting and auditions. Almost 50 excited young actors spilled into the auditorium, eager for a chance at scoring a role in this year’s fall play. According to Atholton senior and actress in the play, Elena Wenderoth, “At the actual auditions, [we] were supposed to showcase our acting abilities by creating a short scene.” With a partner, the actors made up and presented a scene with, “Well, that was interesting,” as the only dialogue. After that, they were given the chance to read a section of the play for the director, Mr. Rosen.
Mr. Rosen stated that during auditions he looks to, “see how [the actors] interact with the world of the play and one another. Then you guess based on what you know about those people what things would be like two months later. ”
He decided to produce this production as the fall play since he thought it would be fun, and because we have the students here who possess the skills to perform it. With 35 years of high school theatrical teaching experience under his belt, and many stunning plays later, Mr. Rosen certainly has an eye for production, which is more than just the acting.
Head of carpentry and senior, Cameron Goodwin-Schoen said his department helps enhance the play by, “allowing actors to have physical pieces to use.” He and his department also collaborated with Mr. Rosen to produce and design the set for each play.
Another department is costumes and makeup. Their job is to, “put together the costumes, design makeup, as well as up keep of the costumes during the shows,” said senior and co-head of costumes and makeup, May Lee. Furthermore, to enhance the audience members overall experience, the costumes and makeup department helps to, “give context to lines and characters. Especially with an interesting and different story like She Kills Monsters, costumes and makeup can tell an audience about what a dark elf or a Bug Bear looks like,” said Lee.
An aspect that also enhances the audience’s experience in this specific play is the amount of stage combat it contains. According to sophomore and actress Lindsey Bloom, the play has, “plenty of sword fighting and there’s definitely going to be a variety of weapons depending on the characters and monsters… the choreography fits seamlessly into the show, and the fight choreographer is amazing. There were plenty of fights in the show and so far they all look great!”
The first weekend of performances went spectacularly, full of excitement, light tricks, sound effects, gelatinous cubes, and last but not least, a five-headed dragon. It is an amazing and exciting show, with a lot of effort, people, and resources put into it. So do not forget your playing dice and weapons because this play will surely be one for the books!
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