MAT youth production 'She Kills Monsters' premieres Thursday

Interns working for Montana Actors' Theatre are bringing to the stage a story this week about a young woman learning about her younger sister by entering a role-playing game.

"She Kills Monsters" is coming to The Little Theater in Montana State University-Northern's Cowan Hall starting Thursday at 8 p.m.

Qui Nguyen wrote "She Kills Monsters," which had its Off-Off Broadway debut in 2011 in New York City at The Flea Theater.

When young woman Agnes Evans loses her family to a car crash, she recognizes an uncomfortable truth about her family: She never really knew her youngest sister, Tilly who died in the crash. Though not a player herself, Agnes enlists help to play the Dungeons and Dragons campaign that Tilly had written. Agnes discovers Tilly's strength, wit and sexuality - more than she would have imagined - throughout the action of the game.

Dungeons and Dragons is a live role-playing game in which people create imaginary characters and tell the game master what actions they will take as the game master describes what challenges they encounter.

MAT puts on a youth production each summer, with older youths acting in and producing a play. It is done while MAT also puts on its week-long KidsMAT theater camps for younger children in local communities.

"When we choose plays for the youth production, we look for something that will give our younger actors a challenge, but also presents a good story," MAT Artistic Director Jay Pyette said. "Working primarily with high-school kids, the youth production needs to go beyond children's theatre and be something in which they, as young adults, are invested and interested.

"('She Kills Monsters') has many contemporary issues that high school and college students deal with in today's world, and this production gives them the ability to explore and address them," he added.

Samantha Haan, Rory Everingham, Austin "Jimmy" Nelson, and Kira Mills, this summer's MAT interns, are directing "She Kills Monsters" with a cast list of 11 actors for the production.

"It is all done by the youth. That is the coolest thing about it," MAT Childrens/Youth Director Angie Pratt said. "They decide the concept, what it is going to look like, they work on all the costumes, they design the set and lights, and they do everything. We help them get it done, but it is their baby."

 "We feel that, as a theater company, we have a responsibility to give our high school actors opportunities to explore the issues they face in today's world and to be able to do so in a safe environment," Pyette said.

MAT's production of "She Kills Monsters" premieres Thursday with productions Friday and Saturday and the following Thursday through Saturday. All shows start at 8 p.m. the doors and backstage lounge open at 7:30 p.m.

"I really hope people understand what they are coming to see and that it is not a little kids show," Pratt said. "It definitely deals with teenage themes, not a rated-R show by any means, but it deals with tough subjects, but it is fun, funny and hilarious at times."