Costuming for "She Kills Monsters" at Dana Hall

[breakinglight11]

I’ve accepted a job doing costuming for private girls’ high school Dana Hall again. I’ve enjoyed it the last two times, and this time I’m especially excited because they’re doing “She Kills Monsters” by Qui Nguyen. It’s about a young woman whose family dies in a car accident, so the only way she can learn about her dead little sister is through the D&D module the sister left behind. The story uses Dungeons and Dragons as a window into the sister’s mind and life, as it was the only honest outlet this lonely, nerdy little girl felt like she had.

I just read the script this morning and I enjoyed it. Honestly it’s not a fabulous piece of writing, and I get the sense that the author just did research into D&D, rather than actually being an enthusiast. There are terms gotten wrong or misused— such as a module being described as “homespun” rather than “homebrew” —and there’s a lot of assumption that what draws people to roleplaying is the need for an escape or wish fulfillment. That last is a bit of a pet peeve of mine— all us RPers are trying to get away from our lives/ourselves? None of us could be interested in creating stories or games-as-art? But it is cute and clever, and I like the idea of roleplaying actually getting some recognition in media.

I think it’ll be a challenge to costume. There are bugbears, kobolds, and a freaking gelatinous cube for God's sake. And got to make the girls look like fantasy medieval warriors on a budget, but I'm a larper, I can figure something out. I think it will be fun. :-)

Maybe I'll run a game for some of the girls...

Comments

[nennivian.livejournal.com]

You totally should run a one-off for them!!!!
Also, they couldn't have selected someone better suited to this job. If anyone can make this awesome, you can!
Also also, can we sew together soon?

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

It's cool to hear a group in Boston's doing this show again! Parts are clunky, yes, but it's still one of the better portrayals of larping in fiction I've ever seen, even though the word 'larp' is never mentioned.

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

Okay — I've been asking this of the people I know who've seen it, and since you've read the script, maybe you have an insight. When we Chuck takes on his DM persona, he wears a hooded cloak and uses an affected voice. Are we to understand that the narrator -- the one who gives the introduction -- is Tilly's DM persona? Or is that something I invented?

[breakinglight11.livejournal.com]

I don't think that was necessarily the intention. Honestly it's probably a better interpretation than the one that the script suggested to me-- that it was narration stuck in there to clarify things for a possibly confused audience. I like your reading of it, though.