The WMC Theater Department put on four hilarious performances of She Kills Monsters, a play about LGBTQ awareness and friendship by playwright Qui Nguyen, on Thursday the 20th of November to the 22nd.
The plot follows a senior in high school named Agnes Evans, played by Cara Kaminski, who just discovered her recently deceased younger sister’s Dungeons and Dragons module. She plays the game with a freshman by the name of Chuck “D.M. Biggs” Biggs. As she plays, she learns about her sister Tilly. Tilly, played by Riley Hench, kept many secrets about her sexuality, but she was always confident and accepting in her friendships. Along her journey, Agnes learns to be just as accepting of “geeks” because their friendship is just as important as those who are perceived as normal, and how to be supportive of those who are queer. These themes are still important for an audience to see in modern day, despite the play taking place in the mid-nineties.
Other notable characters include the whimsical elf Kaliope, played by Lucy Mestrandrea, the charming demon Orcus, played by Matthew Berke, and the Devil’s daughter Lillith, played by Madilyn Waskis. Their irresistible humor wouldn’t be what it is without Daniel Ondish’s Steve, with his hilarious death scenes. Agnes’s best friend Vera, performed perfectly by Jaime Cenziper, also brings her own unique humor with a perfect dose of feminist quips.
The message of the show would not be what it is without the sassy succubi duo of Evil Gabbi and Evil Tina. Julia Bunnell, playing Gabbi, and Ellie Shannon, playing Tina, had amazing on stage chemistry despite having to be homophobic bullies.
On the Saturday night show, WMC sophomores Charlotte Riina and Darcy Sorensen joined the audience to watch the last performance of this spectacular play.
Despite finding the plot difficult to follow, Charlotte Riina found the comedy of the show to be quite enjoyable, especially in scenes that include Orcus the Former Demon Overlord. Riina has been to a handful of the high school’s productions before, and always appreciates the shows that WMC puts on. “I went to the two last year: Christmas Carol and Fiddler on the Roof, and Chicago two years ago, and I loved them,” she stated. With this production, however, she did find some small problems in the plot progression. If she could make any changes, she said she would “probably would have made the plot a little more clear” due to the later developed confusing nature.
Darcy Sorensen had the same issue with following the plot, but she found the music choices to be a huge bonus. She found the performances from all of the actors to be amazing as well. “Oh, I loved the acting,” Sorensen stated. “It was so good.” She also found Orcus’s character to be the best comedic relief of the cast. She has come to previous shows, such as last year’s musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, and she highly recommends that other students should come support the shows.
So far, the WMC Theater Department has been doing a stellar job in their shows, and future audiences are eagerly awaiting this year’s spring musical, Sister Act!
