Union High presents ‘She Kills Monsters’

There’s a monster-filled dungeon that most of us manage to survive. It’s called high school.

Tilly Evans doesn’t survive. The weird little brat gets killed in a car accident, leaving older sibling Agnes wracked with guilt and confusion over the typical big-sister irritations that prevented them from being buddies. And now, Agnes realizes, it’s too late.

Agnes the cheerleader is extremely average — she’s into TV, tunes and boys — while her kid sister Tilly was anything but. When we meet the ghost of Tilly in “She Kills Monsters,” a dramatic fantasy on stage this weekend at Union High School, she’s decked out in warrior armor and effortlessly mowing down an onslaught of evil creatures.

Tilly was that ultimate denizen of geekdom, a dungeon master in the role-playing fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons. Her big sister may have considered her nothing but a question mark, but when Agnes finds Tilly’s D&D notebook — containing the detailed design of her homemade fantasy world — and plunges in, she discovers that her sister may have been the greatest warrior of them all.

“I think a lot of kids can relate to this character because it seems like she’s the obnoxious little sister, but she’s so much more,” said Tessa Eagar, who plays Tilly. “It’s very much about how hard it is to deal with her death, and finding out who she really was. Because her sister never really knew.”

It’s a funny fantasy full of (noncontact) action, fantastic costumes and wicked wit, but the core of “She Kills Monsters” is a serious journey through the labyrinth of high school and its inhuman inhabitants — arrogant jocks, mean cheerleaders, insistent friends and insecure dorks, all transformed into crazy creatures via imaginative costumes, makeup, lighting and music. (Stand back for the fatal dance-off between Agnes’ band of adventurers and a pair of demonic cheerleaders, set to “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now!)”)

The creatures who transform the most are Agnes and Tilly, both of whom grow during the play from cut-out figures into complex, nuanced people. So do the sidekick warriors who join Agnes’ adventure through Tilly’s world; coolly invincible in their fantasy roles, they turn out to be real kids with real-world challenges.

“It gets into disability, sexual preference, body types, you name it,” said Miguel Munoz, who portrays uber-geek Chuck, the key to Agnes’ discoveries.

“It shows a side of life that’s hard for people to accept — all the differences we know are there, but people still don’t like to think about,” said Riley Ransier, who plays a gender-ambiguous “elven-supermodel-fighter-warrior” in long locks, black leather and a sword. “It makes me happy,” Ransier said.

The play is “hilarious, and it’s also got these messages of acceptance and kindness,” said Elliot Grub, who plays another lovable geek.

That’s why Union High School theater teacher and director Katie Rich chose this play, she said.

“Theater kids are notoriously misplaced in our schools,” she said. “When they come here, they find a home and family. This script is about kids who need to find a place, and how they find their place and their friends in this D&D world.”

It’s a fantasy that winds up going deep. The ghost of Tilly admonishes her bereaved older sister that “This is a D&D adventure, not therapy.” But “She Kills Monsters” turns out to be both.