Spring Play Review: “She Kills Monsters”

On March 30, Greenhill’s theater department tackled its most complex Spring Play yet: “She Kills Monsters.” With eight battle scenes, a ve-headed dragon and a wisecracking dungeon master, actors, crew and audience members alike believe the play was unique in its dramatic and comedic nature.

Qui Nguyen’s 2011 play follows Agnes Evans, a young woman who goes on a Dungeons and Dragons journey to learn more about her deceased younger sister, Tilly.

Upper School Drama and eater teacher Valerie Hauss-Smith was primarily in charge of choosing the Spring Play. Since the Fall Musical, “Big Fish,” was high-spirited, Hauss-Smith chose “She Kills Monsters” to provide some contrast.

“We would like something that has a little bit more grounding, something that speaks to people’s emotion,” Hauss-Smith said prior to opening night. “We thought that would be something that would really sort of connect with people at Greenhill. And also the fantasy aspect was really exciting because [it] turns out a lot of people are into Dungeons and Dragons.”

Junior Sanjna Kalisetty played Tilly Evans, a 15-yearold, dorky, closeted lesbian. Kalisetty enjoyed portraying Tilly because of how di erent she is from her character.

“It’s really fun to play her because she’s very strong and very con dent,” Kalisetty said. “She’s very bold and daring. It’s not how I would describe myself. So, it’s like a fun challenge to play her.”

Although the actors and crew only had around two months to prepare, both students and teachers alike thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Senior Nolan Crowder says that while the writing of the play was not his style, he found the students’ e orts admirable.

“It had a lot of character to it, with acting performances and tech design that proved very impressive,” said Crowder.

Upper School counselor Kathy Roemer was touched by the emotions of the play and how it made her think of the people in her own life.

“I love when theater does that and it makes you think of people, pulls at your heartstrings but also makes you laugh,” said Roemer. “I love watching students get it all done, put in the hard work and see that pride at the end.”

Upper School English teacher Andy Mercurio was surprised at the show’s content a er the way it had been initially presented to the Greenhill community.

“It belied the emotional depth of that production,” Mercurio said. “ ere was so much more to it. I really thought it was going to be edgy just to be edgy. Instead, it had a tremendous amount of emotion, thoughtfulness and heart.”

e rehearsal process for “She Kills Monsters” was unique. Part of this stems from students taking on leadership roles that would normally have been reserved for teachers.

“ at was sort of the idea, how we could challenge them with something that they might be really into and then they are taking the play to another level by literally being the designer, which is very rare,” said Hauss-Smith, better known across campus by her initials VHS.

For example, senior Teddy Robertson served as the assistant student director. His duties included collaborating with other actors on their character development.

“My job as a student director is to aid and abet with the trials and tribulations that VHS faces along the way of [assembling] this play,” Robertson said during rehearsals. “Basically, I’m just there to provide VHS assistance whenever she doesn’t have time to be manning four di erent scenes.”

Robertson says his experience directing experience was helpful for what he hopes to accomplish in the future.

“As an actor I’m signing on to a journey that is treacherous and very risky,” Robertson said. “And thus, my secondary backup plan, which is equally as important, and

I’m equally as passionate about, is teaching. And so, learning how to direct and how to facilitate the work of other people, besides myself, is a very important skill.” e student deputies, chosen for the production by their peers, were Robertson, senior Chancey Stefanos, Kalisetty, and junior Quinn Graves. Hauss-Smith says that deputies served as a bridge between the cast and crew and teachers.

Stefanos was the student stage manager and spent most of her time organizing the technical aspect of the show. By collaborating with other peers, she says that she felt a sense of pride in seeing their designs come to life.

“It’s been really fun to have a lot of that responsibility on us just because it’s something that’s new, and it’s also really cool to see a set that your classmate designed,” Stefanos said. “Knowing that a student designed that and built it is really awesome. Also, I think it’s generally just a good thing to have a say in how things go. Students sometimes have to just kind of give it all up to the director and just go with it.” have that representation,” Kalisetty said.

Since the show included intense depictions of homophobia, Robertson and other queer theater students went through the script to take out any inappropriate jokes, such as lines that fetishize queer women or promote derogatory language. e intensity and logistics of the show’s eight ght scenes also set it apart from past productions. e last time stage combat was used was with “Romeo + Juliet” in 2019; however, the intensity and number of ghts pale in comparison to those in “She Kills Monsters.”

Although Graves was once unsure whether he liked the script, he says that it grew on him.

“We’re hoping that the audience appreciates the humor the same way we do as a joke,” Graves said. “I think we’ve come to appreciate the silliness of it.” ey’re not totally le on their own,” said Upper School Technical eater teacher Will Turbyne. “We’re here to guide them but we’re all sort of stepping back and just guiding them rather than speci cally telling them what to do, as we sometimes have to in the past.”

While students held much of the creative direction for the show, teachers still assisted students in executing the ideas they came up with.

Graves, who played Chuck the Dungeon Master, felt that the rehearsal process went smoothly due to the close bonds between the cast and crew.

“[Grade levels are] really split very evenly among the cast,” said Graves. “It works really well to have that division of leadership and have role models and people who all care a lot about it and care a lot about each other in a way that you can’t really get in a lot of other environments.”

Hauss-Smith thinks “She Kills Monsters” was di erent in the way it openly discussed and represented queerness.

“It shows and sort of displays some of the bullying that somebody can encounter at school, particularly for their sexual orientation,” she said. “I think that’s an important thing, particularly right now in the world to show that because we all thought, ‘hey, we’re all good now. We’re all evolved.’ And now there’s sort of this weird like, ‘oh, you know, there’s parts of this world where it’s not alright to say I’m gay, parts of the school system where that’s not alright.’”

Kalisetty echoes this sentiment.

“I’ve never seen a show at Greenhill that so in detail talks about the LGBTQ+ perspective, and I think that’s something that’s di erent and exciting because it’s good to

For Turbyne, the aspect that made the show special was the group of students putting it on. ere’s a lot of themes in this play that are somewhat heavy hitting, and what I admire about Greenhill theater is that it uses the opportunity of its productions to have those conversations and to encourage those conversations with their audience and with the community at large,” Turbyne said. “In that way, I think what makes it special is this particular group of students coming together to tell this story and to engage with it and to engage with the work.”

“She Kills Monsters” marked Robertson’s and Stefanos’ last production on campus.

As a long-time member of Greenhill tech theater, Stefanos has been teaching two other students how to stage manage. “ at’s been challenging, but also really fun,” Stefanos said. “I love working with them. And I also think that they’re gaining a lot from this, and I can’t wait to see what they do next year.”

Robertson says not performing in his last show “surprisingly feels tting.”

“Many people like to say they like to go out with a boom,” said Robertson. “I like to go out with a putter. I like to slowly drip away. I’ve never gotten to experience something like this before, and so a new experience is always a great way to say goodbye.”

He also saw student directing as a way to give back to the Greenhill theater program.

“I wanted to be able to spend my last semester being involved with Greenhill eater, giving back to the group and the community that li ed me up when I was onstage with them,” Robertson said. “I also just wanted to see and share my knowledge with the people younger than me, and perhaps pass on some kind of legacy.”