She Kills Monsters: A Critical Hit
Director Anna Murton artfully brings a Grand adventure to a small stage
Tillius the Paladin (Fien Tol), Kaliope Darkwalker (Lynn Vogel), Orcus (Yann Belin), Agnes Evans (Kirsten Snijders Blok) and Lilith Morningstar (Kyran Van Gilse) | Photo credit: Robin Straaijer
In the intimate Plein Theatre, the lights go up on a hooded figure, who the audience soon discovers is the narrator of the play “She Kills Monsters”. Inspired by Galadriel from Lord of the Rings, she informs the audience that the play we are about to see tells the story of Agnes Evans, a woman who lost her entire family in a car crash. The story begins when Agnes discovers her deceased little sister’s Dungeons and Dragons notebook containing a homebrew adventure that Tilly, her sister, wrote herself.
Enrolling the help of a high school dungeon master, Agnes plays the D&D campaign Tilly wrote in order to work through her grief and get to know her sister better, as the two were not close when she was alive. Together with the audience, Agnes dives into Tilly’s fantasy world containing the adventures of Tillius the Paladin (a self insert) and her adventuring party.
A Beholder and Agnes (Kirsten Snijders Blok) | Photo credit: Robin Straaijer
Dungeons and Dragons fans in particular marveled at the plethora of monsters that appeared onstage. Those who have played the game recognized monsters such as goblins, a hook horror, bugbears, a gelatinous cube, a beholder, and the legendary five headed dragon Tiamat. These monsters were impressively (and accurately) portrayed by a mix of puppets and masks, all custom made for the show by the monster making team led by Jos Bloemers. Through many extra touches, Jos and the team genuinely managed to make magic on that stage. I audibly gasped as Tiamat made her way onstage - each head of the dragon queen billowed smoke while its glowing eyes stared us down in the darkness. There was a running gag featuring a goblin puppet - with a detachable head - who repeatedly got decapitated in different scenes, much to the dismay of its puppeteer. The puppetry was something you would expect out of a professional production, and so many of these monsters appeared for just a moment onstage. The extra time and effort was well worth it.
Tiamat, the dragon queen | Photo credit: Robin Straaijer
Of course the cast needed the ability to fight all of these monsters, and did so with masterfully done fight choreography by Ties Jansen. The amount of fighting in this play was absurd (why would you add SO MANY fight scenes to a play??), and Jansen and director Anna Murton managed to make each fight unique, interesting, and just plain fun. We got to witness a combination of unarmed and armed combat throughout the show, with custom D&D weapons crafted by the weapon master Nadya Pheby, who also portrayed the role of Evil Britt in the show.
Farrah the Fairy played by Shalini Audhoe | Photo credit: Robin Straaijer
Besides all the monsters, weapons, and cool stage combat, the play itself was just a genuinely fun and heartwarming story that tactfully navigated heavy themes, and director Anna Murton and assistant director Niamh Merritt did incredible work with the actors to bring it to life. Many of the actors that featured in this show are known in the community for their backstage work, whether it be lighting, costumes, or playing in the band. It was so special to see each of these community members who helped so many other performers shine finally get their moment on the stage - and they took those moments and blew the audience away.
Jack Tait, normally seen in the pit playing the saxophone, managed to make Agnes’ boyfriend, Miles, one of the more “boring” characters in the show, genuinely enjoyable to watch; he understood when to bring more gravitas to the role and when to support the others onstage as a more secondary character. Jack may have never performed as an actor onstage before, but you wouldn’t know it. Miles’ alter ego in Tilly’s D&D world was a villainous doppelganger who came onstage to fight Agnes in nothing but a Conan the barbarian wig and loin cloth, which Jack not only played with complete confidence but also with evil delight. Yann Belin, who most recently assistant directed “Constellations” through Downstage Left and was nominated for his lighting design for the musical “Chicago” (HEA Productions), starred as the campy and sassy demon lord Orcus, and had a lot of fun with the role. Kalliope, the sexy elf ranger, was played by Lynn Vogel, who most recently won an award for her work on costumes for The Addams Family Musical (The Cauldron). Vogel was hysterical - with her deep, intentionally emotionless character voice, her comedic timing was brilliant.
One aspect I absolutely loved about the play was the fact that the D&D world created by Tilly was filled with sexy, powerful women. We learn later in the story that Tilly was closeted, and everyone in her fantasy world is gay (one of my favorite moments in the show btw). Tilly’s adventuring party contains both Kalliope, the badass elf ranger, and Lilith, the scantily clad demon queen barbarian, to which Agnes responds “why isn’t she wearing more clothes?!”. When these women are introduced (as well as Tilly’s player character, Tillius the Paladin), the ladies strut onstage with pure boss bitch energy and completely own it. And what was special about these characters is that they weren’t these overly sexualized or objectified fantasy characters that solely existed for the male gaze- the women in this adventuring party were sexy because they wanted to be, because that was their fantasy and no one else’s. This is where I think it was so great and important that Anna Murton helmed this show- she worked with the actors to capture this concept of the female gaze* and achieved a wonderful mixture of comedic, empowering, and beautiful female characters that weren’t objectified.
*The Female Gaze:
The female gaze casts women more frequently as subjects (instead of objects) and, in cases when women do appear as objects of attention or desire, it imbues them with agency and autonomy.
Lilith Morningstar (Kyra Van Gilse), Tillius the Paladin (Fien Tol) and Kaliope Darkwalker (Lynn Vogel) | Photo credit: Robin Straaijer
It is of course also necessary to mention the leading ladies of the show, Agnes and Tilly Evans, played by Kirsten Snijders Blok and Fien Tol. The two navigated the complications of the sisters’ relationship well - the love they felt, Agnes’s regret at not making the time to understand Tilly better, and the use of Dungeons & Dragons as a way to build bonds. Chuck “DM” Biggs, played by Ruben Jonkers, was another bright spot of comedy in the show, and managed to play a nerdy high school dungeon master with charisma and swagger. In general, kudos go to the entire cast and crew for making the show such an enjoyable experience for both regular theater-goers and D&D enthusiasts who may not have seen much live theater. The audience was truly buzzing with excitement and chatter after the show, indicating that the cast rolled a natural 20 on their performance check.
You can see more info about the show, cast, and crew at https://www.cauldronperformingarts.com/she-kills-monsters.