The Second-Best School Shooting Reviews

MD Theatre Guide- Recommended

"...“The Second Best School Shooting” is exactly what it is. If the title makes you shrink away, this play will be a challenge for you to get through. If the title doesn’t turn you away, it is no more shocking in performance than the title might suggest. As a person who grew up in the school shooting generation, I didn’t find it particularly upsetting as an audience member, but your comfort level may vary. NextStop Theatre’s current production is the US premiere of “The Second Best School Shooting,” after a development process last spring and an Edinburgh Fringe run. This two-hander is described by playwright Alice Stanley Jr. as “dark bubblegum,” and this production brings both the sugar and the stickiness."

BroadwayWorld- Highly Recommended

"...The show is riveting, thought-provoking and not to be missed. Playwright Alice Stanley Jr. deftly balances the weight of pervasive school gun violence with the dark humor and absurdity that come naturally to high schoolers. A veteran of Chicago's public schools and improv theaters, Stanley has a raw, honest understanding of post-Parkland kids. NextStop's Artistic Director Heather Lanza assembles the right cast and creative team and trusts them to walk the tightrope between comedy and catastrophe."

DC Theater Arts- Highly Recommended

"...With a title like The Second Best School Shooting, I was unsure what I was stepping into. And after reading a short intro blurb about the play’s massive success at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I decided to go in blind and with an open mind. But I don’t know that anything could have prepared me for how this deeply dark, yet humorous piece of art would make me feel."