Killer Show!
The ‘Ike Players’ are preparing to perform! The show She Kills Monsters follows Agnes Evans (Carissa Quesnell) as she grieves the loss of her sister, Tilly (Lenora Leder). After finding a Dungeons and Dragons module that Tilly wrote herself, Agnes decides to play that campaign to connect with her lost sister. As Agnes recruits Tilly’s friend Chuck (Daniel Garcia) to help her through the module as “dungeon master'', he also introduces her to some of Tilly’s friends. The campaign travels through a mystical world filled with wacky characters and silly plot points. Agnes discovers a lot about her geeky sister through the campaign. Including topics such as bullying, sexuality, and her interests. This funny story is very sweet and focuses on the importance of friendship, loss, and acceptance.
When asked why this play was chosen, Director Stephen Clark said, “I read She Kills Monsters a few years ago… I saw how it resonated with the kids and the feel it had. I said, ‘That's the vibe that I want!’”
Clark also states, “I think this show will be great for anyone high school-age and up. I think it’ll really hit home for a lot of our high schoolers.” This show is marked as PG-13 for multiple reasons, so it is advised not to bring children to this show.
Lenora Leder describes her character Tilly as “Very shy… but Tillius the Paladin (Tillys’ DnD character) is very outgoing. She’s a Gemini.” When asked who would enjoy seeing the character Tilly, Lenora says, “People who are shy of their sexuality, because she’s a lesbian… other people who identify with LGBTQ+ community will be like ‘Oh my gosh! This is fantastic! I feel so loved!” Lenora continues, “I feel like a lot of the characters show really true personalities… it shows realness.”
Carissa Quesnell expresses that “It's very much a coming of age story on [Agnes] part. She begins as a very self-centered person who lost her sister and is guilty because she didn’t get to figure out who her sister was. . .She is not a very understanding person yet.” Carissa says someone who would love her character would be “Someone who is struggling with grief…someone who feels they’re not the best person they can be, will love how my character becomes herself. Definitely people who do not exactly know where they are at the moment.” Carissa continues, “It's very sentimental to a lot of people because it's about a girl who just lost everything and is trying to figure out how she can go on without everything, but she's doing it the wrong way… I think to people as a whole; it would be very good if you are struggling with grief and trying to figure it out. For me personally, it’s something I could have used a while ago, so it's nice for me to be able to act through it because I know what she's going through.
When asked who will love this show, Stage manager Sarah Shannon says, “... a gay one. Or someone who likes playing dnd. A gay person who enjoys DND.”
She Kills Monsters will be opening on November 3rd at 7 pm. There will be three other showings on November 4th at 7 pm and November 5th at 2 pm and 7 pm. Tickets will be $12 for adults, $10 for non-ysd students, and free for senior citizens and students with YSD IDs. Don’t miss this incredible show!
