SHE KILLS MONSTERS

VCE Theatre Studies

As is the yearly tradition at Lilydale High School, the VCE Theatre Studies class are producing a theatrical production and the school community are invited! 

This year students have been working on a dynamic show titled ‘She Kills Monsters’, by American playwright Qui Nguyen. First produced Off-Broadway in 2011, the show focuses on Agnes Evans (Briana Tilbury), a teacher in her early 20s who is dealing with the death of her immediate family, including her teenage sister Tilly (Sian Jones). Despite being sisters, the two were never close, mostly due to Tilly being much more of a ‘geek’ than Agnes. While cleaning Tilly’s room, Agnes finds a ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ module that Tilly wrote. In an effort to try and understand the sister she never knew, Agnes tracks down Tilly’s geeky friends and launches head first into the crazy world of Dungeons and Dragons.

During her adventures she meets Tilly’s character ‘Tillius The Paladin’ as well as her party - Lilith, a feisty demon queen (Ayla Harnett), Kaliope, an intimidating dark elf (Tayla Andersen) and Orcus a demon who wants nothing more than to watch 90s TV shows (Willow McConchie). Her adventure is guided by an over-enthusiastic Dungeon Master named Chuck (Matt Paladino) and questioned by her simple but well meaning boyfriend Miles (Stacey Pepers) and sassy best friend Vera (Siobhan Pullen). Throughout her adventures, Agnes faces numerous monsters including evil succubi (Angel Winsor and Ruby Cole), a fired up fairy (Angel Winsor) and various goblins, bugbears and more (Oscar Geddes plus guest actors Bailey Naylor and Aruna Bown of Year 10 and Molly Keyhoe and Bec Clark of the Class of 2021). Fighting monsters is no easy feat, as ‘The Great Mage Steve’ (Charley Nugent) can attest.

Given the nature of our show, it has involved significant amounts of stage combat. We’ve been absolutely blessed to have Mr John Jennings work with us and guide us in both how to choreograph fights scenes, but also how to execute moves safely and responsibly. Outside of teaching, Mr Jennings has a wealth of experience in theatre, including the art of stage combat.

The production is not a co-curricular activity like our full school production of Mamma Mia, this is actually an assessment task for our students. So they are responsible for all aspects of the show. Each student has two production roles they are assessed on, they have the choice of: acting, directing, costume, makeup, sound, lighting, set and props. So some students such as Alesia Jensen, Darcey Garth and Phoenix Beck have two non-acting roles. Although you may not see them on stage, I assure you they’ve been working just as hard to create the magic. The students have overseen the entire production, from initial designs and dramaturgy, through to development and blocking and finally this week - presentation to an audience!

It’s been a challenging year, with students and staff missing large chunks of class time. I cannot speak highly enough of the effort these students have shown to bring such a very demanding show to life. We hope to see many of you there on May 19th or 20th. 

Tickets are available on the school website. Come and join the adventure!

Jonathan Bleakley I VCE Theatre Studies and English Teacher