A fantasy world and reality collide in the latest Country Players’ production in Wakefield where grief, bullying, homophobia and being different will be played out by young actors in ‘She Kills Monsters’.
Despite being barred in some American states, Wakefield director John Amosa says it has also been the most popular college production there because young people relate to it.
“When I first read it, I thought we have to do this because it’s current. It’s for young people and it just highlights different issues like bullying and prejudice.
“It’s about family loss, grief, bullying, being different and homophobia. Most of the characters are gay and it deals with finding friendship. There’s also a lot of killing monsters by a lot of people.”
It follows the story of Agnes who loses her family, including her nerdy younger sister Tilly in a car crash.
When cleaning up Tilly’s room, she finds a module written for the game Dungeons & Dragons and in order to get closer to the sister she never really knew, she sets out to play the game that Tilly intended to play.
From there, her fantasy world and reality begin to collide as she gets to know her sister better.
The cast of 17 aged between 12 and 24 will begin killing their monsters at the Wakefield Village Hall on 7 June which will be the first of six shows.
Production manager Jen Amosa describes the shows as ‘picnic theatre’, where the audience bring their own food and drink and dine at candlelit tables.
She says Country Players tries to have a production involving young people every year and many of the actors have parents who made their own acting debut on the same stage when they were young, making it “very multi-generational”.
‘She Kills Monsters’ is on from 7-15 June with all shows at 7.30pm. To purchase tickets, phone (03) 541 9046 or email bookcountryplayers@gmail.com
