Agnes: Is that why all you guys play this?
Tilly: No, we play because it’s awesome. It’s about adventures and saving the world and having magic. And maybe - I guess - in some small teeny capacity, it might have a little to do with wish fulfillment.
I was 37 the first time I ever played Dungeons and Dragons. I was directing the original version of She Kills Monsters for PYT, and Karen, our Executive Director, recruited her nephew to DM a short campaign for us. I left that game wishing I’d started playing Dungeons and Dragons when I was Tilly’s age because it was so much fun.
D&D is all about imagination, collaboration, and role playing. It’s no wonder so many of our actors play regularly. There’s a lot of overlap between the worlds of theatre and Dungeons and Dragons, and I believe the “wish fulfillment” Tilly talks about is one of the places where the overlap is most pronounced. I started acting when I was in middle school because I wanted to be anybody but myself. I never felt cool enough, or pretty enough, or thin enough, or smart enough. I was never enough. So, I would slip into characters the way that others slipped into their pajamas. I got to be someone else for a little while, and it was freeing.
The real magic, though, was when I looked around and discovered that in the theatre, I didn’t have to be anyone else at all. I found my people. People who wholehearted embraced their geekery. They’d sing show tunes with me on the school bus, and practice the Fiddler bottle dance with me at the beach. The theatre, like D&D, is where many of us feel for the first time that we belong. Youth theatre taught me what it means to really belong to a community, and as I listen to the conversations our cast has with each other during breaks, I can tell that they are feeling it, too.
This will be my final production as Peninsula Youth Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director, and I could not have wished for a better project to round out my time in this position. My first production of She Kills Monsters is still one of my favorite shows of all time to have worked on. This production is no different in that regard. Again, I have a phenomenal cast of incredibly talented actors. I also have a brilliant and dedicated production team, this time comprised mostly of teens. Getting to work on this production again has been a dream come true. Working at Peninsula Youth Theatre has been a dream come true. At PYT, more intentionally than any other company I’ve been a part of, we strive to make sure our actors know they belong here. They have found their people. I am truly honored and grateful to have played some part in that, and even more honored and grateful to have experienced it myself as a member of this wonderful community.
With love,
Loryn
