Fringe Review: THE SECOND BEST SCHOOL SHOOTING, Baby Grand at Pleasance Courtyard
Photo credit: Andrew Perry
“We’ve been trained for this our whole lives!” shouts Ava (Shaylaren Hilton), which seems to placate her mother during three days off school after a gunman entered the school and shot the ceiling. There were no casualties, but also no reporting, because in the same American town, another school shooting took place where 15 children were killed. In this dystopian-feeling, unforgiving reality, teenaged Ava and Parker (Rachael DeBoer) are left to process everything that has happened in Parker’s bedroom as they come terms with American politics and their future.
The Second Best School Shooting, written by Alice Stanley Jr, captures the tragedy of a school shooting and the impact on children, staff and parents. Parker just wants to pass her physics test and worry about college and Ava wants action. She wants to shout about it and demand answers. And shouting there is in this passionate ode to victims of gun violence. Teenaged Ava is draped across the bed or marching around the bedroom demanding change and for someone to take responsibility.
It forms an astute political commentary on America today and the laws around gun control, questioning who is to blame and what the solutions are. The toll of gun violence builds throughout the show as Ava and Parker unravel and question what a victim is whilst slating the support that is provided after these incidents.
Whilst The Second Best School Shooting is a provocative inspection of America and broken systems, it is also laugh-out-loud funny. With sharp poignancy, Stanley Jr reminds you that the two best friends are just teenagers, trying to live their lives and think about the future worrying about normal teenage grievances. Flitting between the big and small picture, Stanley Jr delicately weaves together a striking tale of the reality facing some school children in America.
Compelling acting from Hilton and DeBoer gives the performance all of the edges it needs - empathy, teenage angst, fear, reality, trivialities- building a tense atmosphere as the script charged with anger at society grows throughout the show. Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Brutal’ plays you into and out of Baby Grand at the Pleasance, and a small pit of anger inside you grows. A want for justice for people affected by gun violence and the desperation to talk about it. The Second Best School Shooting is alive and fizzing with rage, it is equally hilarious and important, and well worth a watch.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Hannah Goldswain