This year’s 11th and 12th-grade fall production of She Kills Monsters, was performed in mid-December, predating this year’s winter holiday break. As described in the playbill by the play director, Performing Arts Faculty Mariko Watt, She Kills Monsters’ bridges the gap between fantasy and reality where the protagonist “embarks on a transformative journey of self-awareness and acceptance.” The play was originally written by the playwright Qui Nguyen, was directed by Watt and assistant directors, Drew Waldman ’25 and Grayson Monacelli ’26.

Watt has been working at Poly for four years, and is a crucial addition to Poly’s Upper School Performing Arts Faculty. She has dedicated her time to her role as the musical director for the past couple of years, but this was the first year she directed the 11th/12th grade play. Watt shared, “I was really excited to do the play this year as well as the musical.” She explained there are many similarities between musical productions and plays, but how “there’s a lot more coordination and cooperation between the different departments in musicals” This includes both

music and choreography assisted by Vincent Iannelli, Poly’s Choral Director and Music Programs Coordinator and Samuel Turner, Poly’s Performing Arts Dance Faculty. With the play, on the other hand, Watt explained, “it was really just me.”

Watt also strategizes the most beneficial way of balancing both her pick of an engaging play, while also making sure the actors involved will mold well with the production. She said, “in general, when I’m choosing shows – whether it’s a play or a musical– I really take a look at who we have, and who I think will be involved in the show.”

Both Waldman and Monacelli were the assistant directors of She Kills Monsters.

The production was already chosen by Watt in the late spring of the last school year, and towards the end of the 2023- 24 school year, both Waldman and

Monacelli had reached out to Watt with interests in leadership roles. “I was interested in learning more about directing,” recalled Waldman. “I wanted to learn more about how that works. [Watt] had given us the script and told us to read it over the summer and get to know the characters.”

For the majority of Watt’s time directing for the Poly musicals, she has had her assistant director, Sadie Schoenberger ’25, help her with a lot of the details that are imperative to the final performance. (Schoenberger is also co-editor-in-chief of the Polygon.) Watt shared, “I think it is really nice to be able to work with student assistant directors… It is always nice to just even delegate some of the other tasks to them, and it’s also a good experience for them to see what goes into putting a show together.”

In the case of She Kills Monsters, Watt contextualized her interest in the play by reflecting how she “had enjoyed reading it in classes before, and it was something that [she] wanted to do at some point.” She continued, “I thought it was different than what Poly had done in the past in terms of genre and what it would be bringing to the arts program. I really wanted to

bring different elements to it, so I was excited to bring the fighting element and using sword fighting and stage combat…we typically haven’t done that.” Waldman and Monacelli were not only the assistant directors to Watt for She Kills Monsters, but they were also primary roles in the production as well. While reviewing the script over the summer, Waldman “realized that [she] also wanted to act in the play.” When reviewing the play’s production process, she reflected that “it was a lot of work, because [she] was basically in every single scene.” Both Waldman and Monacelli had to direct and practice both their own parts, as well as guide the rest of the cast through their parts in the play. “It was tricky, because I think like an actor, and I had to shift my focus to a director’s point of view,” shared Waldman. “I had to understand how it’s not just about how you are portraying a character, but it’s also about the logistics.”

Spencer Udin ’27 has been an actor at Poly, participating in both musicals and plays since seventh-grade. As he reflected on the numerous productions he participated in, Udin noted, “my favorite was definitely She Kills Monsters.” Udin continued, “It was really funny. I had a significant role and the cast was really cool. It was just a great show and a fun experience.”

Throughout the fall practices and production of the show, applications to college for seniors, and other extracurricular conflicts proved to cause obstacles for a smooth production. Watt shared how “like every show, you get to the end and you wish you had more

time, but I think that by the time we actually got to the show, we really pulled it together.”

Waldman stated that,“there’s a clicking point and then all the rehearsals and all the time spent working for the play, come together and — like this one — prove to be worthwhile for a great show.”