←Recommendations of Closing Doors

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!