Archive for November 17th, 2021

She Kills Monsters

Posted in Uncategorized on November 17th, 2021 by Eric Appleton

We opened “She Kills Monsters,” by Qui Nguyen, this past Monday. I did the scenic design. Lighting design by student Harry Heinrich, Prop Designer and Manager was student Abby Lezama-Smith, costume design was by student Lydia Oestreich, stage manager was student Moira Kowalski, with sound design by alumnus Jon Mickel. Directed by Sara Griffin.

We were painting detail on the dragons right up until crew call that evening, but they got done and from audience reports, look pretty impressive in action. Here they are on their saw horses before we added scale shading and horn and eye details. The university photographer visited that afternoon and counted about 275 scales on the black dragon. That means we cut out and glued on about 1400 scales. . .

Here are the blue and green dragons, finished:

This photo is from fight call at the start of the final dress rehearsal:

After a couple of attempts, I ended up very happy with how the beholder turned out. We went old school with it (the play does take place in 1995). I must admit to being a little disappointed that it’s only onstage for about twenty seconds.

Here’s a picture of the finished floor, with the house set up for the night of final dress:

And now, some final dress photos. Here, Agnes and her DM Chuck begin the adventure, with the shadowy form of Tilius in the background.

Agnes meets the members of her D&D party.

In this photo, Agnes wonders why she can’t have a sword like Tilius has:

Agnes and Tilius meet Orcus in his lair:

In this photo, Tilius just cast a magic missile spell at the evil fairy:

Agnes meets the student that Lilith is based upon.

Vera, Steve, and Miles in Vera’s office, as Miles tries to figure out what Agnes is up to.

The great mage Steve, about to be devoured by the gelatinous cube.

After Agnes has a meltdown, DM Chuck makes a decision.

Agnes meets some of Tilly’s friends.

Agnes fights the five headed dragon Tiamat (one head killed thus far. . . ). My camera’s a little slow, so please excuse the blurry action.

End of the evening. Dragons have been vanquished. We all get to clean up and go home. . .

And begin designing the upcoming opera production, “Signor Delusa” paired with “The Harpies.”