Qui Nguyen wrote “She Kills Monsters” as a dedication to his deceased childhood best friend who inspired the character, Chuck. Nguyen drew a lot of experience from his childhood from when he and his friends would turn the people from their high school into characters in their campaign. These moments inspired Nguyen to write She Kills Monsters in honor of his deceased best friend Chuck. East High School Theatre students inspired the community with their rendition of “She Kills Monsters” on April 26th-28th.
The play tells the story of Agnes Evans, an English teacher grieving the loss of her sister Tilly Evans. Agnes seeks to gain closure from her sister Tillys death by playing through her D&D module. Along the way Agnes meets her sister’s best friends and D&D party Lillith Morningstar, Kaliope Darkwalker, and Orcus the Overlord. While playing through Agnes levels up, defeats numerous monsters and beats the first of the three great guardians of Newlandia.
As Agnes gets further emerged in the story, she finds out secrets about her sister. She learns that Tilly is a lesbian pining after her first love. She also learns that Tilly has been bullied by the cheerleaders at her school. When the cheerleaders vanquish Lillith the party challenges them to a dance battle which distracts them long enough for Agnes to finish them off. However, Lilith’s death causes Agnes to have a breakdown and she quits the session. She then goes to her best friend and school counselor Vera; Vera gives Agnes some advice about her current situation. Chuck then walks into Veras office and takes Agnes to meet the party which encourages her to finish the quest.
