“She Kills Monsters” premiered as the first show of the spring semester at Cal State LA’s State Playhouse last Thursday night. As the audience entered the theater, 90’s music filled the room, setting the tone for the experience that awaited them.
Set in 1995, Agnes Evans (Jessica Berón) discovers a homemade Dungeons and Dragons book left behind by her late teenage sister Tilly (Casey Cuellar). Agnes delves deep into the game-battling monsters and demons as she tries to cope with the loss of her sister. “She Kills Monsters” is written by playwright Qui Nguyen and directed by Sara Guerrero.
Audience members responded positively to the show, like Cal State LA senior Isabela Lopez.
“I thought it was super funny. I liked the show and it had a great cast,” said Lopez. She later added that the overall puppet work was impressive.
Fourth-year student Oscar Carabajal enjoyed the play.
“I just thought it was a really fun show. I thought that was best way to describe it as pure and raw fun,” said Carabajal.
The cast and crew were looking forward to opening night and walked out feeling great about the show that they had just put on.
“It really warms my heart to see the turnout and the responses. Honestly, I love watching an audience watch the show, so watching all of them has been nothing but a treat on an opening night like this,” said director Sara Guerrero. “The bittersweet part about opening night is you say goodbye as a director. This is where my job ends and this is where the cast continues their work.”
Actress Jessica Berón was amazed by how the show finally came together in front of an audience.
“We’re all very happy with what we did tonight. I think everyone on the crew worked hard and it shows,” said Berón.
Actress Casey Cuellar reflected on the work that they put into opening night.
“I think we did really good. This was probably one of our best runs this week by far, I could just feel it. Everyone hit their marks,” said Cuellar.
“She Kills Monsters” will have three more showings at the State Playhouse from March 14-17, all at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are still available online at calstatela.edu/theatredance for $5.
