Southern Miss Theatre’s She Kills Monsters Opens April 22

Mon, 04/11/2022 - 09:43am | By: Ivonne Kawas

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM)’s Theatre program, housed in the School of Performing and Visual Arts, culminates its spring season on April 22 with Qui Nguyen’s contemporary hit She Kills Monsters. In-person tickets are now available.

The production continues on April 23, 29, and 30 at 7:30 p.m., and matinée performances on April 24 and May 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 seniors, military, faculty and staff, and $8 for students.

The world of fantasy roleplaying games is brought to life in Qui Nguyen’s contemporary hit. Agnes Evans delves into a game created by her late sister and discovers more about her sister, and herself, than she anticipated. Filled with monsters, dungeons, and, yes, dragons, She Kills Monsters is a comedic exploration of a world where fantasy and family collide.

“This is one of our most ambitious productions to date. It has provided many challenges from creating articulate puppet and staging intense combat to incorporating other media like projections and animation in a way we haven’t tackled before,” said Dr. David Coley, Producer and Assistant Professor of Theatre at Southern Miss. “Our student actors and designers and crew members have risen to these challenges and exceeded our expectations.”

Taylor Alleman, a B.F.A. Theatre Performance student and one of the lead actresses in the production, believes that this is a story that needs to be told and feels so blessed to have a part in telling it.

"She Kills Monsters is about grief, love, and acceptance,” Alleman said. “Bringing light to stories that are often silenced is something I am very passionate about. It has been a joy to work with the cast, crew, designers and everyone involved in telling this story."

Mason Baria, a B.F.A. Theatre Design and Technology student, is the puppet designer for the performance. He describes She Kills Monsters as a refreshingly fun show to see performed at USM.

“While it does have its hard-hitting emotional moments, this production is all about action, adventure, and fantasy, and those are the qualities that I want to highlight through my role as the puppet designer,” Baria said.

“This process has been a collaboration across so many different areas, and I'm so grateful to help create such an amazing show alongside our talented cast and crew,” he added.

Find more information about the schedule and tickets by visiting southernmisstickets.com.