Qui Nguyen

Revised 2016 Edition. She Kills Monsters tells the story of Agnes Evans as she leaves her childhood home in Ohio following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. When Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, however, she finds herself catapulted into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was her sister’s refuge. In this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and ’90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all.

She Kills Monsters

Typescript, dated 10.18.16. This unmarked typescript was like that used for the Manhattan Theatre Club's stage production at City Center Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, New York, N.Y. The mostly comic play about Vietnamese refugees in America in 1975 opened Oct. 25, 2016, and was directed by May Adrales. The refugees speak English like Americans, and Americans speak it like refugees.

Vietgone

New edition created specially for high school performing groups! She Kills Monsters tells the story of high schooler Agnes Evans as she deals with the death of her younger sister, Tilly. When Agnes stumbles upon Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, she finds herself catapulted into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was her sister’s refuge. In this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and ’90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all.

She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition

In this action-packed samurai story set inside the halls of an all-American high school, Begets: Fall of a High School Ronin tells the tale of Emi Edwards, a high school geekgurl whose fighting to overthrow the cruel shoguns of her school. However in her journey to right wrongs, will her own cravings for popularity and power corrupt her quest to save the school? Will she able to establish a new world order? Or will violence just beget more violence?

Fall of a High School Ronin

Begets

"In a dark (darkly awesome!) future, New York's boroughs have grown too dangerous to police. Shoguns reign, vampires infest Brooklyn, and most terrifying of all, it's still stylistically the '70s. After losing her lover to some undead hoodlums, Dewdrop gets herself a training montage and a sidekick, and sets off for revenge. Explosively funny nonsense ensues. SOUL SAMURAI kicks the Vampire Cowboys recipe up a notch; the script has the complexity of a graphic novel, though it hasn't sacrificed its zinelike homemade sweetness. Yes, outside it's still the chill dead of winter, but go and guffaw your way through SAMURAI. It can bring you back to life. A Time Out New York Critic's Pick!" Helen Shaw, Time Out New York "Not many theater groups can count both Comic Con as a sponsor and the Ma-Yi Theater Company as an artistic partner, but then there aren't a lot like Qui Nguyen's Vampire Cowboys, where pop culture and theater artistry combine seamlessly and satisfyingly. It's smart and funny stuff that's deftly supported in this sure-handed production, where Asian theater traditions are ably blended with Nguyen's exhilarating fight choreography. Side-splittingly funny and slyly intelligent!" Andy Propst, Village Voice "Even if, unlike me, you don't have a fondness for petite women brandishing large weapons, SOUL SAMURAI offers plenty of charm and entertainment. SOUL SAMURAI, a glorious melting pot of influences and inspirations, is theatre at its best. A Critic's Pick!" Mark Peikert, Backstage

Soul Samurai

When young Lewis Diaz accidentally resurrects the soul of a brutally slain girl named Alice, he unwittingly unleashes a literal hell on Earth. Now, with every imaginable kind of demon, monster, and killer ravaging his small town, it's up to Lewis and his newly undead companion to protect his classmates -- including longtime crush Margaret -- from becoming freshly slaughtered carcasses. With the help of Alice's trash-talking demonic teddy bear, Lewis races to find a way to close the rift before the devil himself shows up and totally ruins their senior prom.

A Horror Comedy

Alice in Slasherland

In a post-apocalyptic "Lost Vegas," a young gunslinger named Jess December enlists the help of a mysterious samurai cowboy to avenge the murder of her sister. However, the gang they'll be going against has powers that go way beyond just gunpowder and steel. To get revenge, they may have to become just as blood-thirsty as the monsters they're facing.

Six Rounds of Vengeance

"Using Hamlet as a jumping-off point, Nguyen throws in martial arts, horror movies, pop songs, puppetry, and comic books."--Back cover.

Living Dead in Denmark

"In a dark (darkly awesome!) future, New York's boroughs have grown too dangerous to police. Shoguns reign, vampires infest Brooklyn, and most terrifying of all, it's still stylistically the 70s. After losing her lover to some undead hoodlums, Dewdrop gets herself a training montage and a sidekick, and sets off for revenge. Explosively funny nonsense ensues."--Back cover.

"Fight Girl Battle World, the latest lark by the proudly lowbrow Vampire Cowboys Theater Company ... The playwright, Qui Nguyen, clearly knows his Star Wars, and while he has given his story a more topical update - environmental disaster and imperialism play a role -- he has really nailed the stilted, jargon-rich style of writing that the saga's creator, George Lucas, is famous for. Fight Girl Battle World dispenses with the hipster distance and indulges the embarrassing passion of an obsessed fan. .. It's theater for sci-fi nerds ..." Jason Zinoman, The new York Times -- Back cover.

Fight Girl Battle World

Three interwoven tales of people with superpowers, including the downfall of America's beloved Captain Justice, the adventures of Brooklyn's Los Hermanos Manos, and the tragic tale of an indestructible man, that ultimately collide inside the walls of a maximum security prison. A superhero story for adults. "Captain America, who was killed this month in a comic book but is rumored to be returning to life in time for a movie, first came on the scene in 1941, back when a nervous nation was looking for a patriotic symbol of American power. But times have changed, and so have superheroes. In films like Batman Begins and television shows like Heroes, they are now more flawed, moody and ambivalent about power than ever. Qui Nguyen's MEN OF STEEL ... introduces audiences to Captain Justice, a crusader for the Iraq war era. A dead ringer for Captain America, including the tights and shield, he was created by the United States military and has dispensed with all kinds of villains, but he still has his critics. Some say he's made people dependent on 'supers, ' as they're called, and created safe havens in the outer boroughs by concentrating on Manhattan. And when he killed two murderers in an act of revenge, the man who fights for justice and the American way was tossed into prison ... the show belongs to the genre of gleefully lowbrow Off-Off-Broadway entertainments for overgrown adults. The prodigious onstage fights are not as elaborate as those in THE JADED ASSASSIN, the martial arts fantasy play, but this plot-rich piece, which begins with a murder and moves backward, has more to chew on. The plot centers on the friendship between Captain Justice and Maelstrom, a wealthy playboy with a collection of gadgets and a sexual secret. He's an angrier version of Batman. There are other superheroes as well, including Bryant, a drag queen whose power is that he doesn't feel pain, and Captain Justice's sidekick, Liberty Lady, who some suspect is merely a P R gimmick. Mr Nguyen has an appealingly clean style that mixes colloquial slang and hard-boiled detective fiction. ('Hope is only good for prisoners and bums playing the lotto.') Some of his comic ideas are truly inspired, like the mad villain, The Mole, who prefers making dramatic statements of intent to actually avoiding weapons hurled at him ... this is a fully realized and contained world that raises the skeptical question: If power corrupts, than what about super power?" -Jason Zinoman, The New York Times

Qui Nguyen

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