She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms by Qui Nguyen
Directed by Damon Bonetti
February 11, 12, and 13 at 7:30 pm.
Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and can be purchased at www.showtix4u.com/events/18480.
She Kills Monsters is a comic adventure into an imaginary world of demon queens and lords of the underworld! Agnes, an average cheerleader, is thrown into the world of cos-play and Dungeons and Dragons as she searches for her lost sister. This version of the play, specifically adapted for our current Zoom world, is full of visual inventiveness and dazzling sword play. She Kills Monsters is a funny and moving play about acceptance and understanding, friendship and heartbreak and learning that you have the power within yourself to fight those very real monsters that hold us back from being fully human.
Director Damon Bonetti explained, “In the midst of the pandemic, with classes unable to be in person and everyone in isolation I wanted to find something for our theatre students to do that would speak to them and find a way to some human connection in a time when we are bereft of it. And to work on a play! It’s been a year since we’ve produced a full show and these actors deserve the opportunity to test their skills and have their craft seen by their peers, friends and family.” Prof. Bonetti, a part-time lecturer in the Department of Visual Media and Performing Arts, has directed numerous Rutgers Theater productions, including Hamlet one year ago, which was the last fully-produced show on the Walter K. Gordon stage before all in-person events were canceled due to the pandemic. He is also co-founding artistic director of the Barrymore Award-winning Philadelphia Artists’ Collective.
Video editing is by Prof. Robert Emmons, head of the filmmaking program; scenic elements are by Prof. James Mobley; senior theater major Austin Ginsberg (Cherry Hill) is the costume designer; and sophomore theater major Eilis Skamarakas (Bellmawr) is the stage manager.
The cast is led by Rachel Aspen (Deptford) as Agnes. Other Rutgers students in the cast include Taylor Eccles (Colonia), Sean Tomasetto (Cherry Hill), JaRell Johnson (New Brunswick), Syd Johnson (Kinnelon), Micah Racquel Addison (Burlington Township), Zaria Webb (Philadelphia, PA), Keith Schlapfer (Point Pleasant), Chase Dannely (Tuckerton) and Sonñet Holley (Haddon Township). Two recent Rutgers alumni, Brittany Onukwugha (Willingboro) and Sophia Baratti (Marlton), are also in the cast.