Review: She Kills Monsters

Review: She Kills Monsters | Theater Company of Lafayette | Lafayette, CO | Curtain Up! | Eric Fitzgerald

At Theater Company of Lafayette, Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters—directed admirably by Hannah Richards—reminds you just how sharp, funny, and unexpectedly tender this play can be. Nguyen’s script remains a buoyant engine: a collision of grief, geekdom, and imaginative escape that still feels fresh more than a decade on. This production taps into that energy in moments, offering glimpses of the story’s emotional pulse and giving audiences a chance to reconnect with what makes the play such an enduring favorite.

I’ll admit up front that I’m no Dungeons & Dragons devotee, but She Kills Monsters doesn’t require any familiarity with character sheets or campaign lore to land. The heart of the play isn’t the game itself—it’s the way fantasy becomes a language for saying what’s too difficult to say outright. Beneath the monsters and mayhem runs a story about acceptance: of who we are, who we love, and who we’ve lost. Nguyen uses the mechanics of adventure to illuminate the quieter bravery of showing up for one another, and that thematic clarity comes through even if you’ve never rolled a twenty‑sided die in your life.

The story follows Agnes Evans (Rachel Ward), who dives into the Dungeons & Dragons module left behind by her younger sister, Tilly (Jo Niederhoff), and soon finds herself guided by a dryly omniscient Narrator (Jaki Lawrence) through a fantastical realm populated by Tillius the Paladin (Niederhoff), Lilith the Demon Queen (Hannah Stewart), Kaliope the Dark Elf (Madison Stout), and the ever‑enthusiastic Orcus (Ben Johnson). With Chuck (Tim Inthavong) as her dungeon master, Agnes battles gelatinous cubes, cheerleader succubi, and the delightfully menacing duo of Evil Gabbi (Mar Erickson) and Evil Tina (Stefanie Oke) as she uncovers how Tilly saw the world and the people in it, including her friends Vera (Kamari Schneider) and Miles (Jeff Paley). What begins as a reluctant attempt to understand her sister becomes a quest that blurs the line between reality and imagination, revealing the emotional truths Tilly has embedded in every encounter.

L to R: Jo Niederhoff as Tilly & Ben Johnson as Orcus

The performances land in a mixed register, the kind of ebb‑and‑flow ensemble energy that can leave a production searching for its center. Fortunately, several actors step forward with work that sharpens the evening’s focus. Rachael Ward’s Agnes is the production’s true ballast: she charts Agnes’s emotional terrain with a steady, lucid intelligence, letting the character’s grief and grit surface in ways that feel lived‑in rather than performed. Jo Niederhoff gives Tilly a bright, restless spark that animates the fantasy sequences, while Tim Inthavong’s Chuck leans into his character’s earnest awkwardness with a charm that sneaks up on you. And Ben Johnson, as Orcus, threads a sly, deadpan humor through his scenes that consistently lands. These performances provide the show’s clearest points of connection, anchoring the story even when the larger ensemble work wavers a tad.

L to R: Tim Inthavong as Chuck & Rachel Ward as Agnes

Hannah Richards’ direction sits firmly in the “solid” column—cleanly shaped, thoughtfully paced, and never overreaching for effects the space can’t sustain. She keeps the story moving with a sure hand, even if the production doesn’t always find a fully unified tone. What shines, unmistakably, are the fight sequences. In a room this compact, Jenn Zuko’s fight choreography could easily have felt cramped or chaotic; instead, the fights land with crisp intention and surprising clarity, giving the show some of its most electric moments. And underscoring it all is Ellen Schwindt’s work as composer, whose music threads through the action with a quiet beauty that deepens the emotional stakes without ever overwhelming the room.

Scenically, the production works with a modest toolkit. Jack Muriano and Britta Swedin’s design is functional and unfussy—more a practical container than a fully realized world—but it supports the action without getting in the way. The technical elements around it, though, show a surer hand. Baird Dillon’s sound design is especially sharp, with Gina Robertson executing it with precision that gives the show welcome texture. Dillon also handles the lighting, delivering clean, satisfying cues throughout. And a special shout-out is due to Madison Flewelling, whose prop work adds small but meaningful touches that help the world feel lived-in.

In the end, Richards’ steady direction and the production’s strongest performances bring the story into clear enough focus to remind us why She Kills Monsters endures. Beneath the comedy and the questing and the gleeful nerd‑chaos, Nguyen’s play is still a tender exploration of grief, sisterhood, identity, and the imaginative worlds we build to survive what real life can’t hold. This production taps into that pulse often enough to make the journey worthwhile. She Kills Monsters plays through May 17 at Theater Company of Lafayette.