As Ixion Ensemble Theatre celebrates its 10th season, the choice to rehash a previously staged show from its 2015-‘16 season, Qui Nguyen’s “She Kills Monsters,” has me wondering if artistic director Jeff Croff might be resting on his laurels. However, on second thought, if Ixion’s mission is to bring “interesting and new voices to the Lansing theater scene,” given the nation’s uneven and uncertain progress toward LGBTQ+ equality, perhaps a retelling of this dramedy is prescient.
“She Kills Monsters” debuted off-off-Broadway at New York City’s Flea Theater in 2011. It was later picked up by the notable Steppenwolf Theatre Co. in Chicago in 2013. Given the ages of the main characters and the themes of sexual identity and being true to oneself, the production has been staged close to 1,000 times, primarily by high schools and colleges.
In 2021 and 2024, respectively, high schools in Ohio and Wisconsin were prohibited from performing the play because of the sexual orientation of the characters. At Hillsboro High School in southern Ohio, a GoFundMe campaign raised enough funds to stage the production independently of the high school after the superintendent shut it down because “one of the characters might be gay.” Given the way things are going, hell yes, Ixion, put this play in your regular rotation.
“She Kills Monsters” is the story of a young woman, Agnes, who loses her family in a car crash — most notably her younger sister, Tilly. Agnes, bound by normalcy and mainstream pop culture, is a first-year high school teacher in a long-term heterosexual relationship that seems to have stalled out. As she begins to pack up her parents’ home, she notices a Dungeons & Dragons module authored by Tilly. She realizes that she never really knew Tilly and decides to relaunch the game to better understand her sister’s world. As Agnes gets more involved in the quest, the fantasy world and reality collide, and she makes some important realizations about Tilly and herself.
Staged at Sycamore Creek Church’s Eastwood campus, Ixion’s second run of “She Kills Monsters” is enjoyable. Even the freshly baked cookies in the lobby are a delicious surprise. While the strength of the play justifiably rests on the clever and amusing script, which pays homage to ‘90s pop culture, Ixion has dialed in some important visual elements. The live-action role-playing costumes, envisioned by Sadonna Croff and Molly Rebeck, are sexy and well constructed. The Evil Gabbie and Evil Tina costumes, redolent of vintage showgirl apparel, give a creepy Louise Brooks (or Liza Minnelli in “Cabaret”) vibe. The multi-headed handheld dragon is well choreographed and visually attractive thanks to choreographers Tobin Bates and Miranda Hartmann and properties crew Holly Sleight-Engler and Henry Hodder.
Sprightly performances by Betz Lund as guidance counselor Vera, Logan Natvig as demon Orcus, Kelsey Renfro as Evil Tina and Isabella Croff in dual roles as Evil Gabbie and hilarious, homicidal fairy Farrah made up for timing lags and drags, as well as bumps and scrapes backstage that left the audience wondering if something unfortunate had happened to one of the cast members or production crew. Hopefully, Ixion will work out these glitches by the second week of performances. Luckily for us, the cookies made up for it.
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