Alex Beardsley ’25 has always loved a good story. From the musicals they starred in at age five to the Dungeons and Dragons games they hosted, narratives have always surrounded them. Now, as the director of the Student Theater Committee’s “She Kills Monsters”, Beardsley can make their own.
Beardsley got their start in theater where most burgeoning theater kids do—a minor role in the background of an elementary school production.
“My first show was Beauty and the Beast in which I played a spoon,” they laugh.
Despite the modest start, their passion only grew from there. After dabbling in tech and stage management throughout high school, they’ve worked just about every role imaginable in Smith theater.
But when the Student Theater Committee started taking applications for plays to put on this fall, Beardsley knew they needed to try out a new role—director.
Beardsley’s eyes light up when “She Kills Monsters” is mentioned. “This show is kind of like me in a nutshell”, they say.
“She Kills Monsters” tells the story of two sisters, Agnes and Tilly. The pair are different in almost every sense—appearance, age, interests—but when Tilly and their parents die in a car accident, Agnes has to try and piece together the life of the sister she never really knew. After finding Tilly’s Dungeons and Dragons module, Agnes decides to play through the game and learns more about her sister than she ever imagined.
For Beardsley in particular, the story hit a nerve. “The impact of both grief but also just like processing the love that someone who is no longer with us feels for us is both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time” they say. “Not to be cliche but I definitely relate to Tilly. Being a nerdy, closeted queer individual for a period of time… I feel like most people can relate to her.”
Like Tilly, Beardsley has long used games—including Dungeons and Dragons—as an escape from the reality of their homophobic world.
“The duplicity of the character, both in terms of who she was in her life and who she was in the game, it’s just…” They mime it out. “Chef’s kiss.”
While creating such an important story is undoubtedly an honor, it has also been challenging. “She Kills Monsters” revolves around grief and has emotional scenes that must be handled with great care. One of those scenes, in which Tilly is subjected to homophobic abuse, required the most delicate handling from Beardsley.
“I kind of sat down with the actors […] and was like, I want to make sure that you are comfortable, I want to make sure that you feel safe and okay and that we all walk out of here being okay,” says Beardsley.
If cast members feel upset at any point, Beardsley emphasizes respecting boundaries and talking things through. “I like to feel that everyone can share their opinions because it’s not just like my vision of the story, we’re all building this story together.”
In fact, they hope that addressing heavier topics through the medium of theater can help people process them.
“Seeing these things play out on stage that echo from my life experiences has been very cathartic […] for me as a young queer person,” they say. “Being able to craft the show both in a Smith College lens but also with parts of my own experience has been amazing. It’s been chicken soup for the soul.”
While a story about grief, loss, and love is certainly not a new idea, for years these stories have excluded a large swath of the population. Only by highlighting the stories of historically underrepresented groups can the nuances of these experiences be fully understood.
“It’s […] been amazing to be able to tell a story of a queer person— we’re getting better with representation, like it’s 2022 representation’s getting better, but it’s important to still keep that going, still do our part and share those stories.” they say.
By bringing such a production to Smith, Beardsley hopes it will resonate with the students the same way it did for them.
“I want the audiences to laugh because this is a funny show, I want them to see themselves in the characters, maybe even cry a little bit […] but overall, going home, and feeling like they just watched something wonderful. I want the show to stick with them.”
She Kills Monsters will be playing December 2nd and 3rd in Mendenhall Acting Studio 1.
