A twenty-sided dice clatters as it rolls across the wooden table, backed by the captivating narration of a committed dungeon master as he explains the upcoming battle in riveting detail. As it slowly rolls to a stop, everybody holds their breath and there’s no denying: This is it. This role of the dice will be the difference between life and death, between victory and defeat. 

This far into a game of Dungeons and Dragons, players are no longer crowded around a playing area in a friend’s basement. They’ve been fully transported into a fantasy world of their choosing where high school and extracurriculars are a thing of the past, and for half of an entire day it’s almost as if real life ceases to exist. 

The game of Dungeons and Dragons has been a popular pastime among teens for over half a century. First published in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson it soon became a board game unlike any other. The game specializes in role play and character creation, and has inspired countless forms of media, from TV shows to stage plays, including the Summit Theatre Company’s fall show “She Kills Monsters” by Qui Nguyen. 

“[This show] really mixes the worlds of both reality and fantasy, really keeping you on your toes,” said director and Summit theatre teacher Lara Okamoto.

The play takes place in 1995 and follows the story of Agnes Evans, a popular high school cheerleader, following the death of her younger sister Tilly. In a haze of grief, Agnes stumbles across what she believes to be one of her sister’s old journals, only to find out it’s actually her final DnD campaign. When she goes to play it, Agnes is swept off into a fantasy world filled with monsters, elves and countless new experiences as she tries to understand Tilly and ultimately discovers herself in the process.

“It deals with some pretty heavy topics like bullying, death and grief… but it does it in a way where you get to go through that process [along] with the characters,” Okamoto explained. 

Though the show has lots of sad moments, it’s also full of comedy and adventure, with the brunt of the play taking place in the world of Dungeons and Dragons.

“She Kills Monsters” is incredibly popular, especially among high schools, after winning the American Alliance for Theater and Education’s Distinguished Play Award in 2013. It includes plenty of strong female characters as well as characters from the LGBTQ community. 

However, in order to bring the story alive, the play requires extensive knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons from almost the entire cast — knowledge that, before this year, the majority of the Summit Theatre did not have. 

Though DnD doesn’t require many materials to play, it does require a lot of knowledge. 

Players — especially the dungeon master, the player in charge of narrating the quest for the rest of the party — require at least a basic understanding of the character classes and types of monsters so that they can know what their specific character is capable of and the weaknesses of the enemies they’re up against. 

Before the game begins, players must complete a character sheet, writing down the name as well as the race, class and level of the character they intend to play as. This happens in the play as well: In the game of DnD, Agnes’s sister Tilly is no longer Tilly Evans, a nerdy and awkward teenage girl, but Tillius the paladin, a brave and capable warrior. Instances like these illustrate how necessary it is to understand the basics of DnD in order to put on the show.

However, for the Summit theatre program, half the cast’s cluelessness was an obstacle on their quest to perform “She Kills Monsters.” 

Therefore, sophomore Tristan Testerman in addition to other students who are more passionate and educated about the game took it upon themselves to teach the ways to their comrades.

“[Dungeons and Dragons] is something that helps you socialize. It really makes you think, so it helps with a lot of things that could end up affecting your day-to-day life,” said Testerman. 

Other than teaching the entire cast of “She Kills Monsters” the basics about the DnD characters and monsters that appear in the show, Testerman and other students have been taking it a step further-hosting entire DnD campaigns for their theatre friends.

“He’s a dungeon master, so he leads the campaign, and I learned a lot about the character aspect of the game from that,” said Summit sophomore Micah King after attending one of Testerman’s campaigns. As well as educating him, King shared that the day made him feel like a part of the theatre community. 

In addition to Testerman, sophomore Hudson Brumfield and senior Owen Cogen served as dungeon masters for a campaign held by the Summit Theatre board, adding some tweaks to the game in order to feature some of the monsters from the show. 

“Of course, they brought in creatures from ‘She Kills Monsters,’ and it was fun to recognize the creatures that were in the show,” said Okamoto.

As well as opportunities for Summit actors to showcase their talent onstage, this show and its many references to Dungeons and Dragons has given the majority of the Summit Theatre company a chance to learn something completely new. 

“I’d only heard about it from ‘Stranger Things,’” said King when asked about his knowledge about Dungeons and Dragons before this year. 

Dungeons and Dragons has illustrated how willing so many students are to share their passion for something in order to better the theatre program and put on a great show. 

In addition to King, learning something collectively as a group has made plenty of other students feel an overwhelming sense of community, such as junior Martina Beltenas, a Spanish exchange student participating in this year’s spring play. 

“Now I can start playing with other people, maybe make a group or something,” said Baltenas. 

These acts of kindness and passion from students show the importance of community in Summit Highschool, especially when it is founded through sharing interests with fellow students. 

Thanks to the cast’s enthusiasm and dedication, this spring’s play is sure to be a showstopper. This April, as the lights begin to dim and the world of “She Kills Monsters” finally makes its premier on Summit’s stage, it’s important for the audience to know that not only will the show undoubtedly be entertaining, it will also beautifully showcase the significance of bringing the wondrous game of Dungeons and Dragons alive, in addition to strengthening the bond in the school’s theatre community.