Cheryl Bear:
23 Jul. 2020
“
It's theater after all, for the kids, so why be concerned? A powerful piece on safety in schools and how teachers are on the front lines whether they want to be or not. Well done. ”
Recommendations
Recommendations
- John Mabey:10 Jul. 2020“ John Minigan takes such care and skill with a topic that none of us want to think about, but is a reality for many. This play expertly explores two sides of a situation where there are no good answers but so many questions. He takes those intense emotions around an active shooter drill and elevates them even further for a sincere and unexpected exploration of friendship as well. ”
- Alex Wilkie:4 May. 2020“ Minigan doesn't pull any punches in this searing 10-minute play that centers on the fallout from an active shooter drill in an elementary school. Both of his characters wrestle with the cruel choices every educator must make when an open door could let in a frightened child or a cold-blooded killer. His taut and penetrating dialogue moves towards a powerful resolution. This drama would make a terrific addition to any festival of short plays. ”
- Victoria Z. Daly:26 Jan. 2020“ This play left me breathless. It feels so true and so lived, and the stakes keep getting bigger and bigger. The answer to this no-win situation cannot come from this school, these administrators, or these teachers, who are all forced to make choices that, by design, will fall short. Meantime (as in the larger political world) friendships are ruined, every stakeholder is terrified, and the kids are left forever traumatized. Consider this gem for your short play festival -- any short play festival -- but especially those focused on gun violence and social issues. ”
- Robert Lynn:5 Dec. 2019“ We think we have answers. But when we're left with uncomfortable choices, we're not so sure. This play gets right in the middle of issues that don't neatly overlap--protecting our children, security theatre, assessing the risks to the many to save the one. This is the world we live in now, and John Minigan shows us just how hard it is. ”
- Jeff Dunne:28 Oct. 2019“ This is a powerful piece, escorting the audience through a very genuine and intentional discomfort and highlighting numerous societal issues along the journey. It does a great job of showing the intractability of addressing school shootings by instituting simple, overly-prescriptive policies; the implications that real solutions will have to address the more fundamental problems come across clearly without being obvious or preachy. An excellent play! ”
- David Beardsley:27 Oct. 2019“ This is the kind of play that makes me lose faith in our species. We make inhuman rules requiring teachers to traumatize or sacrifice students because we don’t have the will to regulate guns. John Minigan has written an important play that makes an important point. That he felt compelled to do so makes me sad beyond words, but maybe enough productions of this play and others like it—along with all the brave students, teachers, parents and others calling for change—will finally bring some sanity to America’s insane gun culture. Maybe. We have to demand change. ”
- Jackie Martin:27 Oct. 2019“ As a teacher, I have run through the exact scenario from this play in my head a thousand times. What would I do in this situation? As a parent, I have run through the same scenario a thousand times: what would the teachers in charge of my children do? There are no easy answers in life, and this unbelievable play won't give you one either. What it will do is make you think and feel more than you thought would be possible in 10 pages. The highest of stakes from beginning to end. ”
- Donna Hoke:25 Oct. 2019“ So good! The best plays leave you in that spot where you just don't know what you would do, which leads to the self-examination that can lead to questioning that can lead to change. "Closing Doors" is a perfect rock-and-a-hard-place example. ”
- Doug DeVita:3 Sep. 2019“ This play. THIS play. I'm still shaking from reading it. John Minigan's "Closing Doors" is topical, political theater at its absolute best. It says everything that needs to be said, and says it with razor sharp economy. A must read for anyone at all concerned with the current state of the world, and how future generations are being affected. THIS! PLAY! ”