Do you know how to slay a bugbear? Cast a spell? Save a soul?
Agnes Evans sure didn’t, and she’s forced to find out.
Under Erin Chappel’s direction, the Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre Company’s production of She Kills Monsters kicked off their 82nd season with the bang of a Magic Missile. The Dungeons and Dragons-inspired play written by Qui Nguyen runs at Carleton’s Kailash Mital Theatre until Sunday.
Uproariously funny and full of heart, Sock ‘n’ Buskin crafted an enchanting performance that balanced grief, healing and fandom culture. The star of the show: “homemade magic.”
After a car accident kills her family, Agnes Evans (Sadie Cann) is determined to connect with her late younger sister, Tilly (Keira Strober), by completing her D&D campaign before moving in with her boyfriend Miles (Corey Newman). Completely out of her comfort zone, Agnes enlists the help of local dungeon master Chuck (Bo Doyle) and Tilly’s other D&D friends. But when the quest to save her sister’s soul blurs the line between reality and fantasy, Agnes must confront what she thought she knew about herself and her sister to move forward.
On a technical level, the play’s simple yet thoughtful designs transported audiences into the play’s various worlds.
Star Wars posters, alternative rock music and weaponry added a distinctive 90s-geek quality to the set while also delivering emotional impact. As Agnes forges deeper into her sister’s world, her new apartment gradually becomes furnished with photographs and figurines between scenes, illustrating her slow acceptance of her new life.
Sock ‘n’ Buskin also made the best of what they had. While technical issues stood to take away from the immersive performance, the cast and crew turned mishaps into moments of hilarity. In one scene, a slowly descending projection screen became an innuendo at the expense of fellow adventurer Orcus (Kirby Steinke), drawing bursts of laughter from the crowd.
Juliana Morewood and Penny Kyle’s reminiscent wardrobe perfectly embodied the characters’ 90s grunge. The costumes contributed to the show’s immersive atmosphere, with changes that demonstrated Agnes’s character development.
Originally put off by the leather-clad elf, Agnes’s pink cashmere and blue jeans get-up set her apart from Tilly’s more alternative adventure party. A decision to pull on fingerless red leather gloves to “get into character” showed a definitive change in Agnes’s enthusiasm for the campaign and the connections she was building.
In the role of Agnes, Sadie Cann captured the turbulent process of healing from loss. While sometimes hindered by slight overacting, sudden raw, aching outbursts from the otherwise unfazed personality in between light-hearted gameplay displayed the ups and downs of Agnes’ grieving.
She Kills Monsters alternates between real-life scenes and in-game shenanigans, where Tilly and her adventure party come to life.
When interacting with her younger sister’s in-game persona, Agnes and Tilly’s love-hate dynamic burst with chemistry as if the two actresses were truly related. In one scene, Tilly’s sarcastic mimicry of Agnes conveyed her deeper fear of being abandoned by her sister — in the form of a petulant dislike of Agnes’ boyfriend.
As Tilly, Strober married existential dread with teenage angst. In more sombre scenes exploring Tilly’s escapist use of D&D to cope with the bullying she faced as a queer nerd, Strober delivered gut-punching statements with an accusatory tone. Strober’s performance was all the more impactful thanks to her character’s usual cheerful, sarcastic and sword-twirling attitude.
Meanwhile, Bo Doyle’s Chuck skillfully tackled the character’s unabashed confidence and sly, boyish wit. Doyle balanced his character’s less serious demeanour with a serious attentiveness to his role as the narrator for Tilly’s D&D world. In scenes where Chuck existed only in the background of an in-game scene, his practiced synchrony with Tilly’s characters segued between immersive in-game and real-life sequences.
Complete with a relatable side cast with exceptional comedic timing demonstrating the wish-fulfillment power of D&D, Sock ‘n’ Buskin ultimately staged a charmed production of She Kills Monsters. With a handcrafted quality, wit and big heart, the play forged a bond with audiences in the way only community theatre can.
Featured image provided by Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre Company.
