Words: Francis Wylde 
Image: Andrew Perry

4 Stars

How do you process a school shooting when, technically, you were one of the lucky ones?

Alice Stanley Jr’s The Second Best School Shooting takes a hard-hitting subject and turns it into a fantastically funny and impactful dark comedy.

Ava and Parker are best friends whose school has experienced a shooting without casualties. Their trauma is complicated by the fact that, on the same day, another school nearby suffered a far deadlier attack. Their experience is overshadowed, turning tragedy into a competition for attention and raising questions about whose voices deserve to be heard.

The play feels fresh, original and instantly captivating. Its humour never detracts from the gravity of the subject matter. Some of its sharpest and most chilling moments lie in the absurdity of the girls’ attempts to make sense of the events. They worry about homework and university while debating activism, filming TikToks and questioning whether their experience is traumatic enough to matter. This juxtaposition, where the extreme becomes everyday, heightens the emotional weight and the ever present undercurrent of fear.

Rachael DeBoer and Shaylaren Hilton have great chemistry, capturing the messy, strained love between two friends struggling, in very different ways, to process what has happened and the uncertainty facing their generation.

The pacing is a little uneven, and the final confrontation could benefit from more breathing room, allowing the emotional beats to land more fully.

All in all, a brilliant play that stays with you long after you leave the theatre.

The Second Best School Shooting
Baby Grand at Pleasance Courtyard
12:45
5th – 30th August (not 12th, 19th, 26th)