Plant Theatre Company kills “Monsters”
The “She Kills Monsters” banner is posted in main hall. The production was on Oct. 28 and Oct. 30 in the Plant auditorium.
Death. Drama. Dungeons and Dragons.
On Thursday, Oct. 28 and Saturday, Oct. 30, the Plant Theatre Company (PTC) performed its fall production, “She Kills Monsters” in the Plant High auditorium. This was the first PTC play put on by the new theater director, Randall Adkison.
The play is about Agnes, a woman who recently lost her teenage sister in a car crash. Her sister was an avid Dungeons and Dragons player. After her sister’s death, Agnes plays Dungeons and Dragons to connect with her sister and, in the process, uncovers some surprises, including the possibility that her sister was gay.
“She Kills Monsters,’’ which debuted off Broadway in 2011, has become a popular production in high schools and colleges since then. The play attracted national attention this year when an Ohio school superintendent canceled the play over concerns that it “was inappropriate’’ for a K-12 audience. Students immediately created a GoFundMe page to raise $5,000 to stage the production elsewhere. They have raised $23,055 to date.
Plant students faced no concerns about their production.
Hannah Woodside, a Plant junior, played Kaliope the elf. She has been doing theater since she was 6 and has been a part of PTC since her freshman year. She was thrilled about the overall performance.
“For the time period we were given to produce the play, it went much better than expected,” Woodside said. “My favorite part of theater is performing and making people laugh.”
Freshman Maddie Fierro played a narrator and was in the ensemble. Not surprisingly, her favorite scenes included the most dramatic and the funniest.
My favorite scene was with Evil Tina and Evil Gabby when they rip out Steve’s heart,” Fierro said.
This was Fierro’s first play at Plant, and she said it exceeded her expectations. She hopes to pursue acting beyond high school.
“I want to go to college for journalism, but I do want to be an actor. I also love to sing,” she said.
Carly Toscano, a senior, played Evil Tina. She has been in theater since freshman year. She said she was nervous before the show and is proud of the result.
“I definitely felt unsure before our first show, I didn’t know how the audience would receive it, but I believed in my fellow cast and crew to put on a great show and luckily the audience really enjoyed it,” Toscano said.
Toscano’s acting inspiration is Dev Patel, and her dream musical to be in is “Waitress.” She said she enjoys working with other people who believe in the power of theater.
“My favorite part about theater is how everyone in it, regardless of if they are more of an actor or singer or techie, is working toward the same goal and share the same interests,” she said.
The show is one of two productions PTC will stage this school year. Students will soon begin preparing for their spring performance, “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical”
“SpongeBob the Musical is an eccentric choice but it’s fun and I’m sure everyone will enjoy it,” Toscano said. “I’m excited because most everyone knows of SpongeBob and regardless of if they’re a fan or not, I know they will take something positive away from the show!”
