Warning Shot

by Dan West

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: In alternating monologues, a well-meaning social studies teacher and his thirteen-year-old former admirer address the audience from their respective bedrooms. Ned Cooper believes in student empowerment, active listening, and the importance of letting kids express what they truly believe. Casey is assembling an AR-15. She believes in love. A two-hander about the distance between what we think we...

TEN-MINUTE PLAY: In alternating monologues, a well-meaning social studies teacher and his thirteen-year-old former admirer address the audience from their respective bedrooms. Ned Cooper believes in student empowerment, active listening, and the importance of letting kids express what they truly believe. Casey is assembling an AR-15. She believes in love. A two-hander about the distance between what we think we're teaching and what's actually being learned — and what happens when a student takes the lesson seriously.

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Warning Shot

Recommended by

  • Mathew Green: Warning Shot by Dan West
    “

    "Warning Shot" (a title that can be taken a couple of ways) is a stark representation of viewpoints in conflict taken swiftly, per the format of a 10-minute play, to a stunning conclusion. It unsettles the reader (as it should the audience) and keeps them off-balance for the duration. Well done.

    "Warning Shot" (a title that can be taken a couple of ways) is a stark representation of viewpoints in conflict taken swiftly, per the format of a 10-minute play, to a stunning conclusion. It unsettles the reader (as it should the audience) and keeps them off-balance for the duration. Well done.

    ”
  • Marus Anet: Warning Shot by Dan West
    “

    A tightly contained work of psychological horror. Casey and Ned show how, no matter how teachers work to make the classroom relevant to students lives, students - especially middle school age like Casey - are still strongly informed and influenced by their families.

    A tightly contained work of psychological horror. Casey and Ned show how, no matter how teachers work to make the classroom relevant to students lives, students - especially middle school age like Casey - are still strongly informed and influenced by their families.

    ”
  • John Busser: Warning Shot by Dan West
    “

    03.09.26 - A sobering wakeup call to a divided nation. Dan West has written a tense two hander showing intentions from a student and a teacher that couldn't be farther apart, but whose convictions for implementing those intentions are practically the same. Ned is about to get the presentation of a lifetime (ironically enough) from Casey and it seems there is an inevitability to it all. Until we can come closer to being on the same page, plays like this will hit hard as a bullet.

    03.09.26 - A sobering wakeup call to a divided nation. Dan West has written a tense two hander showing intentions from a student and a teacher that couldn't be farther apart, but whose convictions for implementing those intentions are practically the same. Ned is about to get the presentation of a lifetime (ironically enough) from Casey and it seems there is an inevitability to it all. Until we can come closer to being on the same page, plays like this will hit hard as a bullet.

    ”
View all 5 recommendations

Character Information

  • Casey
    13
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • Ned Cooper
    30s
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s