Patrick Day:
19 Nov. 2021
“
John Minigan's play is an exceptional short drama that will resonate with teachers, students, and parents alike. Gripping! ”
Recommendations
Recommendations
- D. Lee Miller:10 Jul. 2021“ It is true: whenever I read a John Minigan play I fall in love with his writing again. CLOSING DOORS has a motor in it that will keep you shaking. There is no answer in this superbly written play. How we save our children in active-shooter drills will never be fail safe - But we have to keep trying so long as we allow guns freely in our country. Well done! ”
- Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend:7 Jan. 2021“ What a powerful play this is. Fast-paced, engaging, and heartbreaking, in nine pages it shows what America's culture of gun violence is doing to teachers and administrators better than any speech could. ”
- Lisa Sillaway:21 Oct. 2020“ What an impossible situation these characters are in and what a realistic dialogue driven piece. This should be performed in some collegiate senior juries... ”
- Vince Gatton:4 Sep. 2020“ Bloody hell, what a world we live in that this is an entirely plausible drama that could be playing out in schools all across America. Minigan does an excellent job of taking a societal issue and making it personal, with sharp dialogue, high stakes, and deeply emotional and practical consequences for his characters. I say this as highest praise: this play made me feel sick to my stomach. Also: great title. Well done. ”
- Rachel Bublitz:25 Aug. 2020“ Minigan explores the horrors of school shootings through bureaucracy and the impossible roles teachers are expected to play. It's horrifying to think that conversations like this one probably happen in our country regularly. A chilling ten-minute that cuts past the debate of should-we or shouldn't-we have guns and examines the position our inaction puts schools. ”
- Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn:24 Aug. 2020“ This is such a scary concept that parents, teachers and students have to live with every day. Yes, rules are in place to ensure the greatest number of students are safe and secure. But good teachers see their students as more than just numbers/statistics. And the people in charge of the schools have no choice but to see them as numbers/statistics. And this play hovers in that grey area. We wish we had answers. Instead, we just get rules. ”
- Connie Schindewolf:23 Aug. 2020“ John Minigan’s Closing Doors is a sad take on the way things are-rules that have to be followed when there is an active shooter in a school. Sandra chooses to break the rules to help one little boy. Her humanity is punished by the administration, but her heartfelt actions are heroic in the readers’/audience’s eyes. The play shows the undeniable stress teachers are under in a world we never expected. Nicely written. ”
- J.Lois Diamond:23 Aug. 2020“ This is a very powerful play, which explores the complexities of school shootings. Minigan lays out the various issues through two fully realized characters. Educators and parents need to see this performed. We live in a new dark reality and we need plays like this to guide us into action and better future policy. ”
- Marj O'Neill-Butler:20 Aug. 2020“ This is such an important short play. It is distressing in its subject matter. You understand Sandra’s choice In letting her student in the door of her classroom. You also get the stand that the principal takes in keeping all students safe. It’s a no win situation and so sad that it has come to this. This play should be produced throughout the country. ”