The lights were up on South Hills High School’s fall play, “She Kills Monsters,” on November 15. Overall, the cast had a successful opening night. The cast and crew reflect on their three months of hard work in preparation for opening night.
The show started at 7 p.m., but the cast and crew had to start getting ready at 4:30 p.m.
The first step was getting into costumes. The head of the costuming team was Hailey Westervoorde (11). She kept busy for weeks, gathering costumes and accessories, and mending a few costuming malfunctions last-minute.
“Orcus’s horns wouldn’t stay on his head. I had to attach them to a headband, and then they broke after the first show. I had to try to rebuild them, which was really really fun… not. It was not fun. I had to reglue them and then the headband broke again, and I had to try to repin them into his hair,” Westervoorde said.
Thankfully, she had a lot of help with costuming.
“My biggest supporters were probably Willow Eichen (12), Jules Booth (11), Natt Lopez (10), and Araiyah Leitschuck (10). They helped me so much, they kept everything organized and clean,” Westervoorde said.
Westervoorde also appeared on stage as Kaliope Darkwalker, elf and close friend to one of the main characters, Tilly Evans (played by senior Willow Eichen). She shared how she felt while waiting for the show to begin.
“I feel psyched. I’m not nervous, and I’m just kind of in the zen, I’m ready to go in and do that thing,” Westervoorde said.
This show had many scenes with stage combat. The actors took weeks to learn every step and swing of their swords. But before actors could perform the fights during the show, they had to do a “fight call.”
Fight calls occur a few hours before the show. The director and fight captain supervise the actors as they run through each fight’s choreography a few times, first in slow motion and then sped up. They want to be as prepared as possible not to hurt each other during the show.
Brian Boling (10) played a monster. He came on stage multiple times to fight the lead characters, appearing as a Kobold, a goblin, a hooded figure, and a dragon. This was also his first time on stage as an actor.
“I’m most nervous for the prologue. It’s the opening, and it’s always scary to go out there for the first time,” Boling said.
Their fight captain was Hiram Pierce (10), who also played Orcus, the Overlord of the Underworld. He’s done theatre for seven years, and has five years of experience in stage combat. He worked tirelessly to prepare and teach the steps for all seven fights.
“When choreographing, I start by looking at the characters, their personality can determine how they fight, the same way everyone uses a pencil differently,” Pierce said. “Next, I look to the scenes surrounding the fight. Is the fight meant to show the character’s power, or a test of wills? From there I assign offensive and defensive sides, and for the choreography itself I take inspiration from the works of Bob Anderson, who is known for Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean. Honestly, the final fight, Tilly versus Agnes, was my favorite one to choreograph.”
“To me, especially in a show as fantastical as ‘She Kills Monsters,’ realism should take a back seat to showmanship,” Pierce said.
