She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen is a comedic play centered around the fantasy tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons. It follows a girl named Agnes Evans, a high schooler, discovering her late sisters’ D&D module. In this, she uncovers more about her after her passing. As she embarks on this journey with her friends, she grows to be a more empathetic person.
This play will be brought to life by the Lancaster Country Day school theater company on November 7-8.
The LCDS 2025-2026 theater season is aptly titled (S)heroes, and She Kills Monsters is the first on the roster. Mr. Bomberger, the Director of Theatre & Choral Music, describes this play as “geekalicious” since it’s set in the world of D&D.
Most importantly, he believes that the production season of (S)heroes introduces “core concepts that [he] is starting to become known for.” In this play, he lists grief, sisterhood, feminism, and equality as the main takeaways.
The crew has been working exceptionally hard with the set, with new members joining the LCDS theater crew.
Casey Potman is the show caller for She Kills Monsters. She’s had seven years of experience in theater, and usually goes for a role in a cast, but other times she manages the stage. As a show caller, her job is to make sure the play runs smoothly by checking cues for lighting, sound, and stage movements.
Potman says, “during the rehearsal process, I’m taking notes and making sure that we get everything together before the show starts.”
Potman’s experience lies in community theater, so this is her first time managing a school production. When asked about her opinions on how the set was going so far, she said that “it’s taken a few days to put together a set before, and this has all come together today, which is really awesome.”
Many of the cast and crew were all there to help build it, which she finds fun.
Emmie A. a junior, is the head of crew for this theater season. Her role has many responsibilities, as she has to check on the entire backstage, but she doesn’t make it out to be as rigorous. She has participated in crew for a year now because of the involvement it brings to the community. She says, “You don’t have to be on stage, you can be an artist or prepare costumes which gives good opportunities if you have stage fright.”
Mr. Bomberger had envisioned the set design beforehand, and claims that it’s being adapted perfectly. Lately, he has been more creative with his sets, which is highlighted in Tuck Everlasting with the rotating tree house. The stage is getting bolder props, and this play is no exception to that.
For She Kills Monsters, the intention behind the set is that it’s a D&D game table. It’s primarily used for the actors to stand on. Through this, it gives the illusion that they’re inside a game module.
While the stage pops out first, other aspects of the play shine. Emmie especially favors the sound effects for certain scenes, with one including a car. Mrs Healy, Art Faculty member, helped choreograph the final dance battle.
Mr. Bomberger believes this play may be challenging for the crew, but the crew work is the thing that he enjoys the most. He wants it to be fluid because the scenes blend together, so the crew won’t even be noticed by the audience when the background changes.
He likes that there’s varying levels of experience with this production: “There’s a whole lot of experience, where there’s no experience, so it runs the gamut this time around, so it’s a little bit more balanced, and I don’t think we’ve really seen that before, so I’m kind of looking forward to that.”
