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  • 1.  She Kills Monsters Young Adventurers Edition

    Posted 12-01-2022 13:20
    I am looking at She Kills Monsters YA Edition for my Spring Play.
    What are the pros and cons?

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    Michael Stofko
    Teacher
    Holy Redeemer High School
    PA
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  • 2.  RE: She Kills Monsters Young Adventurers Edition

    Posted 12-02-2022 10:22
    I prefer the regular version. The YA version my high school students found immature.

    Sent from my iPhone




  • 3.  RE: She Kills Monsters Young Adventurers Edition

    Posted 12-03-2022 13:35
    I have read both, seen both, and directed the YA version. 

    I much prefer the YA version, especially for high schools, primarily because all of the characters in the YA version are high school students.   I thought that made the relationships much more immediate than in the other version.

    In the original version, Agnes is a counselor at the high school where her younger sister was a student.  Agnes, her friend Vera, and her boyfriend Miles are at least 5 years older than the sister Tilly and her high school D & D players. 

    The language is more extreme in the original, and (if I remember correctly) Tilly's homosexuality is definite.  In the YA, Agnes is left wondering if her sister was gay, or even trans, and that seems far more interesting to me.  Love shouldn't be conditional, and in this case, it isn't.

    We had a wonderful time producing the SKM.  One of our cast members served as the D & D expert, which was essential since I had no experience with D & D.  I cast four additional students to join the fairy and narrator in playing the monsters.  Costuming was great fun, and the stage combat was terrific.  Rather than use legit stage weapons, we staffs, sticks, and big plastic swords from a Halloween shop, spray-painted silver and bedazzled.

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    CJ Breland
    Retired Theatre Arts Educator
    NC
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  • 4.  RE: She Kills Monsters Young Adventurers Edition

    Posted 12-03-2022 19:54
    Hi!

    I directed the YA version of SKM. Our cast had a great time; my husband is a DM and has played D&D his whole life. He came in on a weekend and we split up the cast- half played a campaign and the other half was with me learning stage combat. Then we switched on another day. 

    I think it's a great script overall. I am trying to bring more representation into my theatre program; it's very white and is much more conservative than I am used to. Even the suggestion of the characters as gay pushed some buttons, and there is some language, which some admin and/ or parents can push back on, depending on the community. I do think that the YA version is much more appropriate for high school. And it really is a great time!


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    Christine Heckman
    Theatre Teacher/ Director
    Burlington Central High School
    IL
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  • 5.  RE: She Kills Monsters Young Adventurers Edition

    Posted 12-08-2022 11:19
    We just did the original version in our high school. The kids had a blast. 

    You NEED a fight choreographer/director for this show. Can't stress this enough. Maybe you are one and you can check it off of the list!

    If students miss rehearsals, that will slow the process down because of the fight choreo.

    It would be helpful to have people in there who have a vast knowledge of D&D - it helps!

    Also, solid set and costume design really is needed for this show - not easy to skimp here. There are a lot of production elements. Tiamat is such an important moment in the play and you really want it to make a statement, IMHO.

    Hope you do it! It was a huge hit over here.

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    Joan Jubett
    (she/her)
    Director of High School Fall Play and Spring Festival of Plays
    High School Theater Teacher
    LREI
    New York, NY
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