A high school outside of Des Moines, Iowa postponed its fall play last week to make “modifications” to its content. The decision has led some in the community to suggest that it may have been due to the play’s LGBTQ+ themes.

According to local news outlets, Perry High School’s student production of She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition was originally set to debut on November 8. But following a November 6 dress rehearsal, the school sent out a November 7 letter informing the community that the play’s two-night run had been pushed back to November 14–15.

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“After careful review and thoughtful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone our upcoming school play,” said the letter, signed by Perry High drama director Randy Peterson, principal Brad Snowgren, activities director Tina Lutterman, and district superintendent Clark Wicks.

“At this time, certain elements of the production do not fully align with the core values and mission of our school. In order to ensure that all performances reflect the standards and expectations we uphold for our students, we will be taking time to make appropriate modifications,”

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School officials specified neither the “elements” in question not the “values” with which they do not “align,” nor did they provide details about the “modifications” they intend to make to the play.

As WOI-DT and other local outlets note, playwright Qui Nguyen’s 2011 dramedy centers on a young woman grieving after the passing away of her younger sister, and features a subplot in which two young women begin a romance.

According to the New York Times, following its initial run at The Flea Theater in New York City, She Kills Monsters has become one of the most popular productions among amateur and school theater programs across the U.S., with 652 schools and colleges staging the play between 2013 and 2021. Over 400 of those productions have been of Nguyen’s “Young Adventurers Edition,” a version of the play he adapted for younger performers and audiences.

But, as WOI-DT notes, even that toned-down version has been canceled in at least two school districts in recent years.

In 2021, Cleveland.com reported that complaints about the play’s lesbian subplot led Hillsboro City Schools Superintendent Tim Davis to cancel a high school production because “the play was not appropriate for our K-12 audience.”

Last year, the principal of a Wisconsin high school claimed that her decision to ban students from staging the play “had absolutely nothing to do with the production’s portrayal of ‘gay characters,’” as had been alleged by some parents, according to The Daily Jefferson County Union.

According to WOI-DT, superintendent Wicks has declined to comment on the Perry High postponement. But at a November 10 school board meeting members of the community, including parents and students, weighed in on the controversy.

“My question is, why was this play chosen in the first place?” local mom Rebekah Haynie said. “There’s no shortage of plays and creative outlets for expression for any and all types of belief, personality, ideas, and identity. My issue with this play is that it is the central topic of the play. They feature characters aggressively making out — that is the direct stage direction that’s in the play.”

Local drag performer Jordy Lopez-Mayorga meanwhile, argued that the content of the “Young Adventurers Edition” of the play was appropriate for high school students.

As Go! reports, commenters on social media accused the district of censoring LGBTQ+ representation.

“Gay teens exist and deserve representation and I happen to believe that making out awkwardly in a school play is a rite of passage,” one user wrote. “None of you would be making such a big stink if it was a straight stage kiss and little news flash most of the kids in the drama club will still be gay even if you make them kiss genders they aren’t attracted to.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with Raccoon Valley Radio posted Friday, Perry High junior Genesis Gonzalez said she’s still excited to appear in school’s production of She Kills Monsters “because it’s different.”

“I also like the meaning behind it of getting to know your sister,” she added.

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