Director's Note 

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As a young adult I remember spending a few enthralling hours playing Dungeons and Dragons, For those that don't know D & D is a fantasy adventure role-playing game that requires players to create and assume characters such as elves, humans, or even half-orcs and go on a quest to accomplish a noble goal while facing challenges such as monsters and dragons, rather like Lord of the Rings or Conan the Barbarian. That is what originally drew me to She Kills Monsters when I first read it. What also intrigued me was how D & D was used as a frame to tell the story of a student on the fringe of the high school experience. Throughout my experience as an educator, I have seen students who just didn't fit in. Whether too intellectual, of a different sexual orientation or too nonconformist, I have tried to provide a haven for all in the theatre. (Perhaps the fact that I was not "in with the 'in crowd" in high school has something to do with that.) Tilly describes herself as a "dorky fifteen-year-old closeted lesbian" so it is no wonder that her high school experience was not a positive one. Through her eyes, male senior athletes were giant ogres, cheerleaders would be evil, and most of the faculty would be undead monsters. As a production concept, I wanted to reflect Tilly's high school experience through D & D and even subtly acknowledge that the same emotions are being felt today by students at PVHS. Only by recognizing that such things happen can we hope to address them. I want to thank PVHS Unite Club and QC Out for Good for providing information about some of the struggles teens are facing today and ways we can help. 

I have seen this play twice (once at the University of Northern Iowa and once at a high school in New Jersey when I adjudicated it for The International Thespian Festival). In looking at the Samuel French (company that holds the production rights) website, SKM is being produced by colleges and high schools all over the nation. The popularity of the scrip speaks to the universality of the story.

She Kills monsters employs D & D to tell a story not only of adventure and fantasy, but of finding one's self and reality; isn't hat the goal of literature? As Tilly states, "And isn't that essentially all that life is - a collection of stories?" I hope you are touched by the story this company of amazing artists shares with you this evening and, in turn, you take this story and allow it to impact your reality.