“She Kills Monsters”: A Lite Meditation on Self-Empowerment and Belonging

It’s 1995, two years since average, 20-something Agnes (Deva Marie Gregory) lost her nerdy little sister Tilly (Fiona Burrows) and their parents in a car crash. While cleaning out the house, she discovers a Dungeons & Dragons module created by Tilly, a major force in local D&D lore. With the help of 17-year-old Dungeon Master Chuck (Derek Delmar), newbie Agnes enters Tilly’s world in a better-late-than-never effort to really get to know her.

As a middle-ager who even as a middle-schooler couldn’t care less about D&D (or role-playing in general), undoubtedly some of the potential charm of Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters is lost on me. Not being a nostalgic person, I don’t get a chuckle at the first occurrences of retrospective rib-ticklers like “56k [modem speed] per second — we’re talking blazing” or excitement about the new Smashing Pumpkins CD, let alone the eighth. And frankly, maybe I’m simply aged out of a play that reads like a romping 21st-century theatrical iteration of an ABC Aftershool Special.

But Long Beach Playhouse is staging it for general audiences, so here we are. Because Nguyen’s script probably isn’t intended to withstand close analysis, we’ll ignore logical inconsistencies with its conclusion; and because believable action is completely beside the point, we’ll forgive the fight choreography. But I’m not sure we can overlook the flatness of some of the acting. As played by Burrows, Tilly comes off too aloof in even the relatively few moments when she’s supposed to be betraying real emotion for us to care much about her — which is a bit of a pickle to begin with, since what we’re seeing isn’t actually Tilly but Agnes’s projection of her.

As Agnes — an emotionally meatier role — Gregory does better (especially in a couple of pivotal moments ), but both are clearly upstaged by supporting players. Chief among these are Grant Thackray, who portrays his in-game character with an easy slacker grace, and Elli Luke, whose turn as Farrah the Farie is the show’s high-energy point.

Director Shinshin Yuder Tsai’s complete commitment to a low-tech aesthetic pretty much moots any complaints one might make about the mise en scène. She Kills Monsters is what it is, and — for better or worse — production value won’t change that one bit. In fact, Tsai gets some mileage from playing up such limitations.

But there’s nothing anyone can do about the play’s limited messaging. Granted, there’s something touching about Tilly’s world creation as wish fulfillment (e.g., she was gay and, while she never really came out in her young life, in D&D she openly makes out with her hot demon girlfriend in a realm where literally everyone is gay), but it doesn’t really go anywhere. So she felt disempowered in life and created a world in which she’s a badass. Great. And…?

To be sure, I am often unmoved by what passes for powerful in pop culture. Perhaps She Kills Monsters falls into that very broad category, particularly with nerds (not a disparaging term in context) like Tilly who venture into imaginary worlds partly because of how hard this one can be on those who don’t fit snugly within the hegemonic boundaries of the so-called “normal.” That alone may be of value, because everyone should feel like they belong.

She Kills Monsters at Long Beach Playhouse
Times: Fri–Sat 8:00 p.m., Sun 2:00 p.m.
The show runs through March 25
Cost: $20 to $30
Details: (562) 494-1014; LBplayhouse.org
Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach