WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville High School drama department is presenting “She Kills Monsters,” a play that combines fantasy, high school angst, gender and familial estrangement.
Written in 2011 by Qui Nguyen, the play is centered on a high school in the 1990s.
It begins when straight-laced high school cheerleader Agnes Evans (Alexandra Rocha) packs up the locker of her eccentric 15-year-old sister Tilly Evans (Ezra Soto) after she is killed in a car crash, along with their parents.
Agnes rues the lost relationship with her estranged sister, and eventually discovers a Dungeon and Dragons scenario written by Tilly.
That intricate, fantasy role-playing game is run by a so-called dungeon master who controls the game for other players with the rolls of many-sided dice. The game is beloved by geeks the world over for its imaginary escapist offerings of ogres, wizards, dwarves and other characters that navigate labyrinths and seek treasure and adventure.
In an attempt to rediscover her lost sister, Agnes finds herself a dungeon master, played by Chuck (Bowen Hayes) and delves into the make-believe world her sister created.
That is how she meets her sister’s fantasy double, Tillius the Paladin.
In doing so, Agnes rediscovers her sister even as she finds her own inner warrior.
The play is a “young adventurers’” version of Nguyen’s original screenplay, which depicts Agnes as an adult teaching in her sister’s school.
It is drama teacher David Scott’s first after a seven-year absence, during which he followed his wife to the Bay Area as she finished medical school and he taught middle school.
He said he chose the play after he saw a production in San Jose.
“I thought it was a totally awesome production,” he said.
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“She Kills Monsters” by Qui Nguyen and directed by David Scott, will be performed Thursday and Friday at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Henry J. Mello Center, 250 East Beach St. in Watsonville. Admission is $7 for students, seniors and educators, and $10 general admission. Tickets are on sale at the door 30 minutes before curtain.
