Don't Kill Daisy
Plays and Players Skinner Studio
1714 Delancey St.
Philadelphia
Sept. 25, 2026
The final two showings of "Don't Kill Daisy" are happening this weekend. Buy tickets here.
Daisy is squatting in the desert with her black thong at her ankles: “Oh no, what will I use to wipe? Do you have something?” An audience member hands her a sparkly mini dress and Daisy mimics the sounds of sequins slicing up her nethers. The stage goes red and a plinking video game sound plays: “You just killed Daisy.”
“Don’t Kill Daisy,” by Soleil Kohl, is an interactive show where all audience members are collaborative game players, complete with a main menu; character customization; a cheesy slow mo title sequence; and a designated villain laughing evilly from beneath his fedora. Aside from the nostalgic video game sound queues, Soleil does it all. Before the show technically started, we all went on stage to picked up props which we could use to help Daisy at an impasse.
Roleplay and game style improv like this show is having a moment right now, and it's changing how we value live performance. The level of presence it requires of an audience can bring the theatrical relationship back to life when done well. This format played to Soleil's strengths as an improviser and reminded us not to take for granted our time together. Seeing Daisy respond to our plot proposals with quick wit and imaginative thinking made us all the more invested in the outcomes.
The show followed a loose narrative that allowed her to roll with the punches while still threading a clean line. There are certain scenes that are unskippable, and objects that can only be used one time. Objects that kill Daisy were removed from the game once used, while objects that worked in her favor were added to our inventory as the story progressed.
Halfway through the show, Daisy was balanced on a tightrope over a ravine while the wind whipped her back and forth. That is to say she made her way across a tape measure held down by two audience members while holding a stick of bubbles for balance. In spite of this gap between set dressing and imagination, the participation of the game makes us just as invested as Daisy. We had just used an item to turn back time and try this balancing act again, so this time the stakes were even higher; we had to get it right.
Soleil reminded us often that this was a multiplayer game, and we all had to be in consensus for a choice to be made (“Are you sure you want to use this now?”) There was a natural beat for anyone to object to yes or no questions. Some audiences might have been more serious about the task at hand and waited to use certain props with special powers at more opportune times (like in the boss battle awaiting us… sorry, Daisy). But everybody approaches games differently, and Daisy gracefully followed where we led.
For this crowd, we gravitated toward the character customization menu where we tried on new skirts, hats, and wigs. When a new outfit would debut, Daisy did a pose sequence to fast paced electronic music. We spent quite a bit of time experimenting here. In the main menu, there was also a title sequence which we watched more than once. Mimicking the style of popular animes, the title sequence was full of high intensity drama: fight scenes, slow motion, and posing.
In the end, the biggest choice we made as a group was how we would handle the token villain. After the boss battle, Daisy had a chance to finish off her evil alter ego once and for all. Or we could forgive them, and fuse the two Daisys into one. We chose forgiveness. While the narrative threads of the show had to be fast and loose to allow for so much participation, the conclusion felt sturdy, since it was a choice we had made and earned together.
The atmosphere of audience participation and responsibility that Soleil created, even with a small crowd on a weeknight, was a testament to her skill. This show exploded out of a suitcase and took us far beyond the black box walls into a rich world of play and imagination. In Daisy’s world you can always opt in, get up, and try again. I know I will be thinking about this piece for a long time.
