By Dylan Spradlin | Entertainment
Theatre TCC! will showcase six performances of “She Kills Monsters” from Oct. 6-8 and Oct. 14-16 in the Turner Auditorium. This Theatre TCC! production will be the first of three plays in the theatre department’s 2022-23 line-up.
“She Kills Monsters” hosts a predominantly female cast and was written by acclaimed playwright and Vietnamese storyteller Qui Nguyen. The students of Theatre TCC! are credited with picking this show, which explores the world of Dungeons and Dragons and is a celebration of “nerd culture.”
Theatre TCC! Director Eva Nielsen said every aspect of this production had been an adventure. The play includes professional-level stage work such as fighting and puppetry.
“It’s going to be really cool visually,” Nielsen said. “It’s going to be a stunning play.”
According to AllaboutTheatre.org, “She Kills Monsters” follows the story of Agnes Evans, played by TCC student Kaitlyn Ricketts, who is grieving for her estranged and late sister Tilly Evans, played by TCC student Zira Brown. After discovering a Dungeons and Dragons campaign that her sister had made, Agnes decides to delve deeper to understand her sister better.
Brown said she is excited most about the on-stage fighting.
“The fighting is just really cool,” she said. “To be able to do stage combat as a professional would normally cost a big chunk of money, so to be able to get to do it for free is amazing.”
TCC student Shadin Haitham plays Chuck, the DungeonMaster in the play. The DungeonMaster runs the game and helps the main character, Agnes, reconnect with her late sister Tilly through the D&D game. Haitham performed this show at his first college, Florida School of the Arts, in 2020 during the pandemic.
“So just doing the show over Zoom was a lot of fun, and to do it on stage now is even better,” Haitham said.
TCC student Kayla-Elizabeth Meyzen plays the role of Kaliope, a Dark Elf. Meyzen, who is from Miami, has been involved in theatre all of her life and encourages her fellow students to come out to see the production.
Admission is free for TCC students, faculty and staff with a TCC ID. Show dates and times are 8 p.m. on Oct. 6-8, 8 p.m. on Oct. 14-15 and 2 p.m. on Oct. 16.
“This is one show you’re not going to want to miss,” Meyzen said. “There’s something for everyone.”
