Announcing: Digital Realms

Last spring, I had been approved to direct She Kills Monsters (Qui Nguyen) in January of 2021 for CU Boulder.

I was ecstatic.

As a bi nerd who first tested the waters of coming out during D&D games with friends, I have always loved this script. As someone who grew up competing in rodeos and as someone whose family is still physically and more or less mentally rooted in Trumplandia, I have always loved this script.

I love when Agnes challenges Chuck, demanding to know why the whole world of Newlandia is queer, and Chuck, Tilly, and Qui Nguyen all respond together, simply asking: “why not?”

It’s a play about 90s nerd culture. It’s a play about queerness. It’s a play about unknowing. It’s a play about someone who never fully felt comfortable being open.

It’s a play about me.

But at the same time, it’s about Agnes—it’s about averageness—and the damage caused by clinging to the socially enforced norms of society.

But March came, COVID caused theatrical closures across the country, and the show was canceled.

The season was cancelled.

But Twitter saved it.

I saw Qui Nguyen tweet about a new adaptation of the play, titled She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms. And I immediately tweeted it to CU Presents, the producing entity at CU Boulder, and emailed screenshots of the tweet to the theatre department here at CU. They took note, and called me to talk about how I was thinking about adapting the performance for online. There was quite a bit of back and forth, but eventually, the department agreed that I would direct this new adaptation of the show!

So now, I just have to read it.

Be on the lookout; the best is yet to come.