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.

Opening Tomorrow: SEND THE LIGHT at ISU's Westhoff Theatre

An all-new, all-electric version of Send the Light, an original musical about bringing electrical power to rural communities with a script by Don Shandrow and music and lyrics by Phil Shaw, opens tomorrow night at Illinois State University's Westhoff Theatre. Performances begin at 7:30 pm on October 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26, with a 2 pm matinee on October 19.

This is how the show is being billed for this ISU production:

A world premiere script with a rural setting in the American heartland of 1936. The action of the play concerns the controversy surrounding the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) and its impact on farm communities. Many groups, especially utility companies, opposed the federal government's involvement in developing and distributing electric power. Onstage, conflicts arise within families and communities as they argue the pros and cons of "sending the light" to rural farms. This play is a community outreach project with Cornbelt Energy.

Associate Professor Connie de Veer and Assistant Michael J. Vetere III are co-directing Send the Light, with a cast that mixes community members like Clark Abraham and Susan Palmer with ISU actors like Kate Klemchuck, Andrew Rogalny and Levi Ellis. For the complete cast list, click here.

You can read more about Don Shandrow and the story behind Send the Light at ISU's Illinois State Stories, see the production's Facebook page here, or get ticket information here or here. Sara Ilene Shifflet has also uploaded behind-the-scenes videos about Send the Light to Youtube, and you can choose from lighting design information from David Warfel and some of the cast (seen above), the scoop on scenic design from designer Megan Lane, or an "official trailer" for the show.

Switching on SEND THE LIGHT for ISU

Just about two years ago, I wrote a piece on Send the Light, an original musical from Don Shandrow (book) and Phil Shaw (music and lyrics) that tells the story of how electrical cooperatives brought power to farms and small towns. At that time, Send the Light was produced as a "One Shot Deal" under the auspices of Shandrow's New Route Theatre.

Send the Light started back in 2007, with a production that played at the McLean County Museum of History as well as in front of electric cooperative associations in Illinois and Missouri. Half of the four-person cast from 2007, including local actors Rhys Lovell and Irene Taylor, returned for the 2011 one-night performance.

Now Shandrow and Shaw are bringing a new version of Send the Light -- with a much expanded cast -- to Westhoff Theatre at Illinois State University, for performances from October 17 to 26. ISU faculty members Connie de Veer and Michael Vetere III are co-directing, with a cast that blends community members and students in a (get ready for it) cooperative venture!

Rather than the four-member cast from 07 and 11, this Send the Light will feature somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 actors when all is said and done. From the Illinois State University Department of Theatre, actors Peter Balser, Laura Bouxsein, Molly Briggs, Nicholas Brown, Levi Ellis, Chelsea Gulbransen, Tommy Howie, Jake Kazmierczak, Alyssa Klein, Kate Klemchuk, Janice Kulka, Sage McCracken, Brandon Miller, Drew Mills, Paulina Pahl, Lauren Partch, Andrew Piechota, Andrew Rogalny, Jr., and David Zallis have been cast. They will be working with local actors Clark Abraham, Leola Bellamy, Holly Klass, Wes Melton, Susan Palmer, George Peterson-Karlan and Terri Ryburn, whose names you may recognize from performances with Heartland Theatre and its Young at Heartland troupe as well as Illinois Voices Theatre, New Route Theatre, and other area events.

Send the Light is a community outreach project with Cornbelt Energy. For all the details, click here to see the play's Facebook event page.