She Kills Monsters by the Numbers

  

15 Cast Members

9 Design, Tech, and Management (DTM) Students

Including a student choreographer, painter, hair & makeup designer, and sound co-designer.

3 Day Stage Combat Workshop

Led by Barbara Burgess-Lefebvre and her assistant Johnna Lefebvre.

+500 Audience Members

Including a student matinee for over a hundred local high school students.

5 Headed Dragon

With a giant eye of the beholder, gelatinous cube, and exploding faerie to go with!

1 Dungeons & Dragons Event

The newly restarted Drama Club led its own fundraiser leading up to the performance.

Many, much-appreciated student workers!

Our virtual programs have disappeared into the void, making our numbers less reliable, but this show could not have been staged without the contributions of several student workers in both the costume and scene shops.

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Supporting Documentation

• Director's Concept:  As a director, I am responsible for providing a unifying vision for each production.  The Director's Concept serves as a visual representation of that vision and proves particularly useful at the beginning of the process in both communicating with designers and getting students excited about the production.  With each concept, I address Why This Play Now (WTPN) or how this production speaks to our audience and current context, as well as design needs and desires.  This is a preliminary document and leaves room for collaboration as the show progresses.  For this production, we took inspiration from 90's television drama for the real world while embracing the inclusivity and color of 90's rave culture in the imagined world of Dungeons and Dragons.

• Costume Inspiration: We were fortunate to add costume designer Adalia to our list of regular collaborators for this performance.  To assist with communication in this early collaboration, I created an additional document with costume inspirations for Adalia to build on.

• Modified French Scene Chart: This document maps each actor's path. I utilize this document when crafting the schedule.  To help the backstage crew, colors indicate where costume and makeup changes occur. 

• Notes: While I try to give notes in person to minimize misunderstandings, rehearsals occasionally run late, so I email notes so the students can leave at a reasonable time.  The attached notes come from one such rehearsal.  I'm primarily focused on tracking and timing, though I do include small notes on tactics and character.  I aim to highlight opportunities for growth and acknowledge effort.

• One-Pager: We provided this document, which includes a content warning, relevant WV Content Standards, and additional resources, to high school teachers in preparation for the student matinee.

• Press Release: In lieu of a program, this document lists the students involved in the show.

• Schedule: This is the document I provided at the start of the rehearsal process.  This is a working document, and we do have to make changes over the course of the semester.  When I make changes, I endeavor not to call students on days when they were not originally scheduled, or, if that is not possible, to check in with the affected students before making the changes.​

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