Throughout the semester, School of Theatre and Dance students, faculty, and staff have worked to find innovative and creative ways to bring performance and design to life amidst a global pandemic, taking choreography and storytelling into the virtual world.
The School of Theatre and Dance's continues its virtual 2020-2021 mainstage season with a LIVE virtual production of Qui Nguyen's She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms. Performances are March 31 – April 2, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. Admission to the live stream is FREE, but reservations are required.
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Written by Qui Nguyen and directed by assistant professor Paul Hurley, She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms is a comedic homage "to the geek and warrior within us all" that will be performed LIVE over Zoom. Grieving the death of her teenage sister Tilly, Agnes Evans finds Tilly's Dungeons & Dragons notebook and embarks on an action-packed adventure into the imaginary world Tilly loved.
"Ultimately She Kills Monsters is about a quest, not only a 'Dungeons and Dragons' quest, but also an emotional quest," said director Paul Hurley. "After losing her sister Tilly in a car crash, Agnes goes on a journey to learn more about the game her sister loved and along the way discovers something special about herself. And she does this by killing monsters. On the surface this is a kick ass comedy, but underneath it’s about discovering who we are and unfolding into who we want to be."
While bringing She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms to life in a live virtual format was a challenge for the cast and production team, Hurley identified the oppotunities for growth in the process. "Anytime we come face to face with a challenge – if we choose to accept it – we are invited to tap into a creativity that we have not yet had the opportunity to explore."
While the rehearsal process was comprised of the same amount of hours as a normal in-person production, the rehearsal process was stretched out over 8 and a half weeks to give the cast and production team time to experiment and discover how to produce theatre in this new live, virtual format. While everyone involved were physically in different spaces, the cast and production team were excited to "take on this daunting task because some of the most exciting aspects of theatre lie in the spontaneity, the unknown, and the shared communal experience, which all of us have missed this past year."
The She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms production team includes costume design by Kelley Shephard, lighting design by Jaemin Park, scenic design by Jenna Jamison and Claire Vogt, and sound design by Brea Lecklikner. Sara Tomczak is the assistant director and the fight director and Alexandra Baxter is the production stage manager.
For more information about Kent State University's production of She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms, visit https://www.kent.edu/theatredance/she-kills-monsters-virtual-realms
“She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
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Media Contact:
Joni Koneval, 330-672-0116, jkoneval@kent.edu