Qui Nguyen tells a captivating story of grief, loss, and growth centered around high school teacher Agnes Evans.  Agnes’ world gets turned upside down when her kid sister Tilly suddenly dies in a car accident.  She decides to dive into Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons game to find out more about her sister.  In this world of magic, violence, and confrontation, Agnes is put into new situations and challenged through battles, both physically and emotionally.  

 

Agnes is devastated when she finds out her sister was a lesbian and was bullied in high school.  She realizes how much she ignored Tilly’s life and now there is no way to bring her back.  Overcome by grief, Agnes wants to quit the game.  Something within her urges her to keep going, and in a moment of growth she picks up the game again.  Agnes finds healing, forgiveness, and hope.  Nothing is more important to her than her sister, and that drives her to beat her ultimate fears in an epic battle with the Tiamat dragon monster. 

 

This production was a collaborative effort in achieving the real world of Agnes’ workplace and the fantastical game world of Tilly’s D&D adventure.  In discussions with the director and sound designer, we found that Agnes is on a journey of discovery, and though she thinks she is discovering her sister, she discovers herself in the end.  While a normal person on the outside, she is full of fear and doubt on the inside. Tilly challenges Agnes again and again to break out of her shell and take risks, even if it costs her status of being normal.  The game world provides the backdrop to the audience following Agnes’ journey.  Even in scenes in the real world, the game world is ever present.  Monsters are able to bust through hallway lockers just as the Kool-Aid man bursts into a party. 

 

Agnes is a guest exploring Tilly’s world, and the sonic palette is experienced from Tilly’s perception of the outside world. We hear music that resonates with Tilly, including artists like The Indigo Girls and the industrial electronic/rock music of The Matrix.  The hard-metallic colors and driving rhythm of industrial music create tension during the battles and help propel the energy of the story forward.  This driving music is contrasted with a softer orchestral tone as we experience Agnes’ ambition, discovery, betrayal, forgiveness, and triumph.  The development and reprise of these musical motifs evoke the emotional memory of the audience members.  The reoccurring theme of the narrator underscore glue the story together. 

 

We also hear music that represents Tilly’s perception of people outside of her direct world.  Unlike Agnes, Tilly despises the mainstream pop culture of the 90’s and uses this style of music to represent her enemies.  The sound score features both original compositions and third-party popular music adapted to the production.  This includes jock rock and cheer routine music like C&C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat” for the evil cheerleaders, LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out” for epic fighting, and Agnes’ Ace of Base CD.