NextStop Theatre Opens 2026/27 Season with The Second-Best School Shooting

Fresh off a sold-out, five-star run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Second-Best School Shooting comes to NextStop Theatre in Herndon, VA, for its U.S. premiere, performing from September 17th through October 11th. The play, written by former Chicago public school teacher Alice Stanley Jr., is a dark comedy about grief, friendship, and what happens when one tragedy is eclipsed by another. NextStop Artistic Director Heather Lanza spearheads this equally hilarious and important U.S. premiere, which launches NextStop's 2026/27 season just before the highly anticipated midterm elections.

"One of the things I appreciate most about Alice's play is its honest portrayal of how dark humor and sarcasm can often be used as a coping mechanism in times of grief, especially for our teens today," Lanza comments. "This play is more than just a call to action and condemnation of the horrific normalization of school shootings in our country; it's also a reminder of the power friendship and a good laugh can have in helping us heal."

Described by Rolling Stone UK as "a breathtaking tightrope act of a show," two best friends, Ava and Parker, struggle to process surviving a school shooting that becomes overshadowed by a far deadlier school shooting at a neighboring school on the same day. In the aftermath, the teenagers confront a brutally absurd and deeply human question: How do you grieve when the world has already moved on?

"While dark comedy may first seem like a bizarre entry into this incredibly sensitive topic, I've found laughter actually opens up space to really talk about gun violence," says Alice Stanley Jr., writer of Netflix's MOXIE, directed by Amy Poehler, and the late-night talk show BUSY NIGHT, executive produced by Tina Fey. "When we can actually talk about this often overwhelming issue, we can start solving it."

The "whip-smart two-hander" features Sadie Koopman (NextStop's DreamHou$e) as Ava and Alexandra López (NextStop's Footloose, Reefer Madness, and In The Heights) as Parker, with Hope Blahusch and Megan Kempton understudying Ava and Parker, respectively.

In addition to Director Heather Lanza, the creative team includes Sophia Menconi (Stage Manager), Shartoya Jn.Baptiste (Scenic Designer), Imari Pyles (Costume Designer), Hailey LaRoe (Lighting Designer), Bridgette Tran (Props Designer, Assistant Scenic Designer), Mo Oslejsek (Sound Designer), Ynika Yuag (Dramaturg), Dianna Garten (Assistant Director/Rehearsal Stage Manager), and Melanie Kurtz (Assistant Stage Manager).