Review: SHE KILLS MONSTERS at Rorschach Theatre

There are signs that the grandaddy of role-playing games, Dungeons & Dragons, is making a comeback, even among the kind of kids who'd usually be glued to their computer games. But its depiction - and general celebration - in Qui Nguyen's "She Kills Monsters" currently being revived by Rorschach Theatre at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, only seems to show it fading into the past faster than it did the last time it unfolded on this very stage in 2014.

Well, not exactly this very stage.

Because the major change in the production - other than an entirely new cast - is that it begins in hallways, elevators and a meeting room on various levels of the larger-than-you-would-imagine performance complex.

The fairly ingenious immersive experience devised by director Randy Baker begins by first assembling small groups in elevators, who may be startled by the sudden, boisterous narration by an actor among them. It spills out to a hall that - how could it be so perfect? - is already lined with lockers the Athens, Ohio high school could easily be seen using. Among them are also lingering students and a counselor yelling for them (and the audience) to move along to class.

The big boardroom where action next moves is also perfectly suited for the first encounter between a young teacher and a D&D devotee who not only knew the woman's young sister, but revered her as a player.

Eventually, people are gathered in the final destination, Theater Lab II, where the sprawling performance space allows for a lot of the ambitiously choreographed fight scenes and the unfolding of the rest of the play in the manner it did in Baker's earlier version.

Which is fine, but it takes a while to get all of the groups through the immersive labyrinth and up to the performance space, causing an unnecessarily early intermission as others await everyone catching up.

And here's another glitch: Say you've left your wallet in the lobby before the first call to the elevator - will you have to go back and retrace steps through three different performances spaces to find it? And will you disrupt subsequent groups if you do? (Don't worry, the item was found and nothing was further disturbed. Chalk it up to observant backstage personnel and even more immersive theater).

In its time, Nguyen's play showed a woman desperately trying to get to know her late sister by getting involved in the game she played when alive. Reading her game journal brings the action to life, as well as the various alter egos and lingering villains, elves, allies and enemies - most taking form from real life people in her high school life.

Christina Day is quite good as the teacher who becomes absorbed by the role playing game, against her better judgement. Alanna McNaughton is sufficiently tough and enigmatic as the revered D&D player Tilly.

If there's one thing about "She Kills Monsters," it looks like it's a fun exercise for the involved ensemble, and each seems to get the best out of their characters, from Andrew Quilpa's broadly comic turn as Agnes' student tour guide into the world, to Daniel Westbrook's perplexed fiance. Briana Manente goes big in playing a bossy counselor who is a confident to Day's teacher and adds a lot of comic sass.

Anna DiGiovanni and Stephanie Wilson throw themselves into their roles as warriors and elves and are quite each eventually very affecting.

It's a large ensemble, which only seems to make the large fight sequences choreographed by Casey Kaleba even more complicated. As such, the decision to do them slowly seems dictated by safety measures - these are big blades they are waving about. Perhaps they'll get on point a bit more as the performances go on.

The idea that a lot of fighting in costume is cool - an underlying tenant of D&D - is also carried through in the play and there's probably twice as many big battle scenes than needed. Moreover, they come accompanied by a 90s soundtrack culminating in a dance-off. It's all meant to tie the story into a time period, but it seemed to remove actual teenagers even further from the action.

"She Kills Monsters" should be just the kind of thing to excite young people about theater, simply from the exuberance of the ensemble, if not the subject of youthful interactions among nerds. But judging from the looks of a couple of teens dragged along to an early performance, they merely looked appalled and bored at seeing something set this far back in time - more than 20 years now - presented to them as something now and hip. Like watching old VCR tapes of MTV.

There are advances in the production, from the scene-setting video projections and clever character bios by Kylos Brannon to a set design by Debra Kim Sivigny that evokes a basement playroom from the high windows on each side (subtly lit by Brian S. Allard).

And of course the biggest change is all that moving around to begin the play, though the crucial exposition may get lost to audiences trying to obey orders. Traveling from scene to scene also increases the day's steps for the theatergoer - making it a positive physical activity, if not quite turning into actual role playing.

Running time: Two hours, no intermission.

Photo: Christina Day and Anna DiGiovanni in "She Kills Monsters" Photo: Ryan Maxwell Photography.

"She Kills Monsters" by the Rorschan Theatre continues through Nov. 10 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE. Tickets online.

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