Review: SHE KILLS MONSTERS at Omaha Community Playhouse - You Might Die Laughing

I know nothing about Dungeons & Dragons. Yet, without knowing much about the role-playing game so popular in the 1990s, I still found SHE KILLS MONSTERS funny and entertaining.

Directed by Beth Thompson, this cast plays a mixture of real people and player characters in "a time before Facebook." Where does the real end and the imaginary begin? The integration is amorphous.

Agnes (Catie Zaleski) is an average high school teacher in Ohio. She wishes her life was less boring and gets her wish in an unintended way when her parents and 15 year old sister, Tilly (Chloe Irwin), are killed in a car crash. Struggling with the loss of her nerd sister who liked to resurrect dead lizards with the power of electricity, Agnes and her long-time boyfriend, Miles (Thomas Gjere), box up Tilly's belongings. It is then that Agnes discovers Tilly's notebook. She hopes it's a diary, but discovers that it is a D&D module. She enlists the help of the quirky, self-proclaimed lady's man Chuck (Brendan Brown) to act as Dungeon Master and enters the game, hoping to connect with her sister. Agnes encounters a host of monsters along with Tilly's alter ego, Tillius the Paladin. Together with Tillius' sidekicks Lillith (Riley Perez) and Kaliope (Jaiden Lindsey), they seek to recover Tillius' soul from the five headed dragon with whom Orcus, overlord of the underworld (Kevin Goshorn) has traded for a TV/VCR.

Bits of "Zoolander"-like buffoonery is interspersed throughout the 90 minute play. Miles is turned into a green block of jello. There's a dance battle. Big Red Orcus reclines in his Lazy Boy. Body parts are pulled out in a gruesomely funny manner and used as weapons. A sidesplittingly hilarious Carrie Beth Stickrod demonstrates the eccentric powers of Farah, the forest faerie.

Combining the ridiculous with occasionally salacious quips and double entendre, I was somewhat confused by the author's targeted audience. This may not be the play for younger teens, as I had expected. The mostly adult audience on preview night, however, was thoroughly entertained as evidenced by almost constant loud laughter.

SHE KILLS MONSTERS is not meant to be solely comedy. There is a running thread of Agnes searching to know her sister and Tilly longing for understanding and acceptance. However, I didn't feel the script dipped deeply enough into character development for me to sympathize with the real people. Fantasy characters took priority while the real world faded into the background.

Zaleski and Irwin play off each other well as sisters who hadn't developed a deep bond. Zaleski is stable and mature. Irwin is young, energetic, and enthusiastic. Gjere does well with the unenviable task of playing Zaleski's boyfriend. Is he a good guy who can't commit or is he unreasonably jealous with violent tendencies?

The bulk of the story takes place in the imaginary New Landia. When we are transported back to Ohio, it feels like an aside. Vera (Carrie Beth Stickrod) is the constant as Agnes weaves in and out of role-playing. As guidance counselor and friend, she spends more time counseling Agnes and Miles in relationship matters than counseling her high school students.

Ensemble work is good, particularly Lilly/Lillith (Riley Perez) and the pair of Evils: Evil Tina (Ava Burk) and Evil Gabbi (Amanda Overfield). Perez is fierce as a warrior and polar opposite as quiet, timid Lilly. The Evils' degree of meanness is perfection. Amy Schweid's vigorous fight choreography is pretty realistic at times, making me cringe.

Costume Designer Amanda Fehlner and Set Designer Christopher Dills with Scenic Artist Janet Heath have pulled out some masterpieces. The level of detail is extraordinary.

SHE KILLS MONSTERS may not make your top ten list for most heartfelt play of the year, but it will definitely make you laugh. And we all need to laugh more.

Photo Credit: Colin Conces

SHE KILLS MONSTERS by Qui Nguyen is running through November 4 in Omaha Community Playhouse's Howard Drew Theatre.

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