Qui Nguyen's SHE KILLS MONSTERS Flies High Tonight at Illinois State

Yes, there is such a thing as "geek theatre," and playwright Qui Nguyen is one of its bright lights. Note that on his own site, he's chosen to refer to himself as "Playwriter, Screenwriter, Geek!" And it appears in a font that looks like it came right out of a comic book.

As co-artistic director and co-founder of Vampire Cowboys, a New York theater company often credited for creating the concept of geek theatre, Nguyen has worked to show that theaters can be a perfect venue for fans of comic books, video and role-playing games, science fiction and fantasy, and, in general, people who understand and identify with underdogs and outsiders.

Although Nguyen won the 2015 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for Vietgone, a more autobiographic piece, his 2011 play She Kills Monsters falls squarely in the geek theatre category, sending a woman named Agnes head over heels into the world of Dungeons and Dragons in an attempt to understand her younger sister Tilly's death. It's been described as "a high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture" and "a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all."

Director Paul Dennhardt brings She Kills Monsters to the Illinois State University Center for the Performing Arts starting tonight, with performances running through Saturday, November 4. Dennhardt is a professor of theatre at ISU as well as an expert in stage combat and movement and a perfect choice for a play filled with swords and battles on an epic scale.

To create the fantastic world of the play, Dennhardt is working with ISU colleagues John Stark, the scenic designer tasked with putting this imaginary world on stage, Michael Vetere, a puppet-master who can create dragons out of whole cloth, and costume designer Amanda Vander Byl to help bring life to the characters of She Kills Monsters, both real and imaginary. Dennhardt has also enlisted Vertigo Rigging Company to make his warriors fly high (literally).

For ISU, Johanna Kerber will play Agnes, with Spencer Brady as her little sister Tilly. Actors Jacob Artner, Autumn Egger, Josh Harris, Lauren Hickle, Kayla Jones, Angie Milton, Becky Murphy, Tyler Szarabajka, Chloe Szot and Jack Van Boven were cast to fill out both Dungeons and the real world with heroes and villains.

For information about upcoming performances of She Kills Monsters, click here or here.The show's Facebook page also has ticket information.

Happy 100th, Benjamin Britten!

Composer, conductor and pianist Benjamin Britten was born in Suffolk, England, on November 22, 1913, which means we are a month away from the 100th anniversary of his birth. That anniversary is being celebrated worldwide by orchestras, children's choirs, vocalists and filmmakers from England to Sweden, from Newport Beach, California to New York, New York.

One of the most complete celebrations is happening right here in Bloomington-Normal, as Illinois State University offers a four-day centenary symposium. There's a conference bringing together Britten scholars from all over the world as well as a full slate of performances, including War Requiem Op. 66, a "monumental undertaking" for orchestra, chamber orchestra, soloists, choir, boys’ choir, and organ, featuring solos by Illinois State University faculty Michelle Vought, soprano, Justin Vickers, tenor, and John Koch, baritone; Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury conducted by James Major, Dean of the College of Fine Arts; the American premiere of a filmed version of the opera Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach; a recital called "Benjamin Britten & the Art of Song" that brings together faculty soloists from Illinois State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Illinois Wesleyan University; "Britten's Choral Delights," a national workshop with members of the American Choral Directors Association; two free box-lunch recitals; an exhibition of art at the University Galleries and Milner Library; "Britten's Ballet & More," spotlighting dance performed to live chamber music; and a play about Britten by British playwright Alan Bennett called The Habit of Art, with Assistant Professor Sonja Moser from the Department of Theatre directing a cast that includes U of I's Robert G. Anderson, IWU's Thomas Anthony Quinn, and ISU's Lori Adams, David Ian Lee and Kim Pereira. Most of these events take place in the Center for the Performing Arts, with The Habit of Art in the Kemp Recital Hall in Centennial East at 1 pm on Sunday the 27th.

And that is a whole lot of Benjamin Britten!

You may be wondering why all of this is happening in Illinois. Here is a partial answer: "The significance of a Britten centenary event in the State of Illinois rests squarely on the foundation of Britten’s career in the United States: for on January 15, 1940, Britten made his American debut in the U.S. première of the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D for piano and orchestra with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. Britten was at the piano. And with that, his reputation -- and career -- was catapulted throughout the U.S."

For all the details on these events, visit the Centenary Symposium homepage or the event's Facebook page.