Either You’re Real or You’re Dead: Bridge Players’ She Kills Monsters Is A Critical Hit

by Donald Toal

We tell stories for so many reasons. We tell them to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us and the people who inhabit it. We tell them to explore ideas and events from a new perspective. And, perhaps more than any other reason, we tell them for entertainment, for adventure, for an escape from the mundane horrors that plague our short little lives.

All these reasons are at the core of Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters, a clever, silly, but ultimately heartfelt exploration of the power of stories and how they shape us. Bridge Players Theatre Company, a troupe based out of Burlington, clearly understands the assignment here in their most recent production, and it’s clear that a love for the characters and the material is baked into their interpretation with extra cheese.

That material also includes a little game called D&D, or Dungeons and Dragons, also known as a TTRPG, or Table Top Role Playing Game, in case you’ve been under a rock. No rules homework is required for this production–not only is Nguyen’s script set in the far-off era of 1995 (long before dice-rolling was launched into the mainstream with sold-out arena shows and blockbuster movies and TV), but the simple conceit of ‘people telling a story together’ is all you need to understand the game and the premise of the script. “She Kills Monsters” premiered in 2011, and it’s absurd that this is this reviewer’s first time seeing it. Considering D&D has become one of my dominant personality traits over the last decade, this show really should have crossed my path sooner.

Director Jett Meisel and Assistant Director Terri J. McIntyre set the vibes right from the start of preshow, making you wonder if you had stumbled not into a humble church auditorium, but instead a dingy basement where the game first found its roots. Assorted tapestries adorn Scenic Designer Lou Dipilla’s two level set filled with stairs, ramps and mystery (and, one can imagine, a faint smell of patchouli oil and/or incense). Fog creeps around the edges of the platforms as grunge rock creeps into your ears. Meisel also helms the Sound Design and Audio Tech, and their set list has a fantastic array of era-appropriate needle drops to set the mood and the moment throughout the performance.

The layout of the space allows for a variety of entrances and playing spaces, which Meisel and McIntyre use to their advantage wherever possible. The Set Construction team, including co-leads Geoffrey Burr and Artemis DeGroot, along with Dani Costello, Nina Linger, Mars Kel, Millie Omps, and Felix Ramos, alongside the Set Decorations team of DeGroot, Meisel, Kel, and Kelly Torres Williams, ensure that the set is sturdy and stable through the shows many magical moments and swashbuckling showdowns, courtesy of Fight/Intimacy Director McIntyre, with weapons provided by McIntyre and Arcadia University. Each combat sequence ups the stakes and complexity in a way that mirrors the satisfying grind as adventurers defeat foe after increasingly fearsome foe, including a sassy showdown choreographed by Meisel that I won’t spoil here.

Those sequences are lit handily by Jack Miller’s Lighting Design, which makes fantastic use of color and contrast to set clear distinctions between reality and fantasy worlds. Props and Costumes from Artemis DeGroot are made with creativity, cleverness and care, with some delightful surprises packed into them that have to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. And Stage Manager Paige Bates and Producer Marissa DiPilla ensure the production is a smoothly running module from start to finish. Special mention should also be given to the Box Office volunteers Marissa DiPilla and Gina Petti, and Bridge Players’ Marketing team of Regina Beaucheane, Lauren DiPilla, Marissa DiPilla, Cassidy Remeniski, Kori Rife, and Allyssa Winkelspecht, who give the show’s PR a unique visual identity.

But a smoothly running module (think of it like a D&D adventure’s roadmap) is far from what Agnes (Millie Omps), finds when her younger sister Tilly (Mars Kel) and their parents are killed in a tragic car crash in the show’s opening moments. Struggling to process her grief and lack of connection to a sibling she barely knew, Agnes finds a handwritten notebook containing an adventure module Tilly wrote before her passing. With the help of Tilly’s DM (that’s Dungeon Master) Chuck (Dani Costello), Agnes delves into the Quest for the Lost Soul of Athens and some surprising introspections (and monster-slayings, of course) ensue. Omps’ Agnes has a fantastic grasp of the fish-out-of-water comedy that comes with one’s first (and somewhat reluctant) D&D game. Omps plays well off of her costars in bantering and bickering, but is at her best when grappling with the heavy emotions that come from her confusion, sadness and thoughts left unsaid. Kel, despite spending a significant part of the show’s runtime as a fictional NPC (Tilly’s paladin alter-ego Tillius), inhabits both versions of Tilly with as much humanity and emotional depth as possible. The conversations where the two sisters discuss (by proxy) their unspoken feelings and Tilly’s secret struggles–not the least of which was grappling with her queer identity–are delivered with blunt honesty and raw emotion. Costello as Chuck also has some great comedic moments, with this reviewer’s favorite being an inhaler gag that highlights every DM’s age-old struggle of trying to play multiple characters at once. But Costello also conveys the vulnerability and uncertainty of a young person who’s trying to do right by the memory of a friend, even if that task is sometimes beyond their wisdom and experience.

Tracy Brobyn brings the appropriate amount of Galadriel-adjacent vibes as the Narrator who opens the show and sets up the action. The choice by Meisel to have them as a background observer for a few key scenes adds an interesting wrinkle to the blurred lines between fantasy and reality. The colorful characters that make up Tillius and Agnes’ adventuring party all add their own flavor to the mix. Emery Rivera’s Lillith has spite and spitfire to spare, making a great foil for Agnes. Her connection to Tillius (and in turn, Tilly) ends up being a core part of the show’s queer identity themes, and is portrayed in a way that blends the introspection and the moments of accidental comedy smoothly together. Caroline Piortrowski’s Kaliope also brings some fun contrasting energy, playing up the otherworldly mysterious elf archetype to great effect. And Ethan Rundell’s Orcus steals a few scenes all on his own, with the demon lord’s sleazy, used-car-salesman-esque persona an unexpected delight. All three of these performers play other important characters in the show–but that would be spoiling the surprise.

As Agnes’ milquetoast boyfriend Miles, Joe Tabasco brings just the right amount of insecure masculinity to make their relationship believable without veering into being unsympathetic. His comedic confusion over just what Agnes is doing with her spare time earned big laughs from the audience in attendance. Deitra Oliver has acerbic wit to spare as Agnes’ classroom coworker Vera. Her cynicism and snark is as much a reminder as her Nirvana-hippy wardrobe that the setting is firmly in the throes of the 1990s. Lofn Klaus never fails to miss a punchline as the hapless Steve the Mage, with the character’s increasingly over-the-top dismemberments (to warn the players just how dangerous a threat they’re facing) serving as a running gag that never, ever wears out its welcome. #justiceforsteve

And those threats are no cakewalk, either. Anneliese Definizio is the definition of “don’t judge a book by its cover” as the small-but-deadly fairy Farrah. She has a blast subverting the audience’s (and Agnes’) expectations with fight-me energy and some magic powers to boot. Ellorah Maeve and Nina Linger also slay as demon-succubus-cheerleaders Evil Gabbi and Evil Tina, injecting just enough real-life menace into their vapid valley-girl attitudes to give them extra emotional damage. Seeing them manipulate and bully Tilly/Tillius was one of the more heartbreakingly real moments of the show. Rounding out the rogues’ gallery are the Fight Ensemble of Jean Martinez, Felix Ramos, and Allyssa Winkelspecht, who give their all in every combat encounter, moving with precision and punch throughout the adventure.

There’s something to be said for fantasy not only as a means of escapism, but as a way of connecting with those that we care about. One of the quotes that lives rent-free in this reviewer’s head comes from Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather: “You’re saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable?” “REALLY? AS IF IT WERE SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.” (That caps lock is not a typographical error. If you know, you know.) And that’s what made this old nerd tear up a bit in the closing tableau of Bridge Players’ production. Fantasy as a means to bring people together. To create a safe haven for the misfits and outcasts to pretend to be smarter, stronger, kinder versions of themselves. And then, through the act of storytelling, become them. That’s what fantasy is about. The +1 magic weapons are just a bonus.

She Kills Monsters runs through February 21st, with a sign-interpreted performance on Friday, Feb. 20th. The show does contain some adult content; so viewer discretion is advised. Even so, it’d be a critical fail for you to miss it. You can visit https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/BridgePlayers/7570 for more information and to purchase tickets.