Georgia Southern University’s Theatre Department won nine national awards at the annual Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for their of production of “She Kills Monsters.”

This is the second production GS has won national awards for in the last three years. GS has previously won for their production of “Race.”

“She Kills Monsters” is a comedy that takes place both in the real world of Athens, Ohio, and the fictional world of Dungeons and Dragons.

The story is about a sister, Agnes, who tries to connect with her dead younger sister, Tilly, by playing through her D&D campaign. Along the way there are lesbian demon queens, gelatinous cubes and dragons.

GS had the opportunity to perform “She Kills Monsters” at the Region 4 KCACTF, which it also hosted. From there, the play was selected for the national awards.

The play was a hit at the regional festival according to Nick Newell, the director of GS’s production of “She Kills Monsters.”

“We actually added a half an hour on to the play because there was so much laughing, chanting and applause,” Newell said.

KCACTF is an annual theatre festival sponsored by the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. that showcases the best in college theatre. The festival starts on the regional level with eight regional festivals, where colleges get the opportunity to perform their plays for the other schools in their region. From there, the best plays are selected to compete on the national level.

This year, about 64 schools competed at the national level.

GS won nine awards at the national level including:

• Sarah McCarroll for Distinguished Costume Design

• Spencer Collins for Distinguished Lighting Design

• Sadie Thomas for Distinguished Performance By an Actress in a Play

• Kelsey Alexandria for Distinguished Performance by an Actress in a Play

• Will Cox for Distinguished Performance by an Actor in a Play

• Nick Newell for Distinguished Director of a Play

• Qui Nguyen for Distinguished Production of a Play

• GS for Outstanding Ensemble of a Play or Musical

• Jake Guinn for Distinguished Choreography

“[This win] puts us on the map as a theatre program that is distinguished and outstanding and excellent in comparison to other schools in the nation,” Newell said.

The awards are being presented this week in Washington D.C.

The full list of winners can be found on the KCACTF website.