Faculty Portrait

See it if A play about school shooting and its relevance afterward. Has some good moments in it.

Don't see it if Can be slow off center at times. If reworked it could be really good.

See it if you want to see a theater piece that shows a positive and uplifting ending to a school shooting

Don't see it if You have already seen several shows in the last five years about school shootings. This is probably the most over done subject in theater

Also I thought the character of the custodian was interesting but the playwright did nothing to explore her or any of the other characters in this play.
Did the school shooting really happen because a student found out about the sexuality of another student?
I don’t think any of the acting was good but I don’t blame the actors I think it was more of a directors issue based on the below average staging of this production... Read more Read less

See it if Sean David DeMers happy pill solution to a tragedy appeals to you.

Don't see it if a kumbaya solution o mourning is not only unrealistic, insults those who suffered tragedy and need to mourn at their own pace

Also Phoebe Holden's "Claire" is the only bright spot in this otherwise banal production.

This production takes the view that a person should "just get over" their suffering and look at at life with rose colored glasses. It portrays the idea that "group recovery" is actually functional.

I have seen several productions in this small venue and all, until this one, have made masterful use of the space. The direction direction here is amateurish in the worst way. Sloppy and unnecessary scene changes trying to provide a different perspective of the same room, instead of just moving the characters to different part of the stage.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to view a well-written & acted drama about a school shooting and the human aftermath of impacted lives.

Don't see it if you want a comedy or light topic.

Also This is a very moving and excellent production that should go to a larger stage. Backers should definitely see this touching work.... Read more Read less

See it if You like to see a multiethnic, talented cast of 6, performing a difficult topic with humor and candor. There’s smoking, gunshots, and some

Don't see it if Cussing. It actually felt like an after school special, or Saturday morning teen entertainment, but, it was enjoyable. It’s a nice small

Also Space. My only gripes are we can hear the actors off-stage, because the curtains are not a real barrier, and that without trying to spoil anything, if there was an explanation or theory of it all, otherwise, it was a very enjoyable piece.... Read more Read less

See it if U enjoy a good ensemble cast that’s primarily young people working through a difficult subject.

Don't see it if U don’t like small productions, difficult topics like school shootings or don’t want to be transported back to high school.

See it if you want to support local theater

Don't see it if you are tired of plays evoking tragedies without having much to say about them.

Also This felt awkward to me from the start, and as the play progressed, it lacked the energy of having a clear direction. At no point did I feel a representation of a real, cohesive situation. It mostly came off as "the writer wanted to be relevant". Good effort, but what insight is driving this?

Yes - there is an opportunity here for the actors to portray grief - and that they do, but to what purpose? Is there anyone not already feeling towards victims of senseless shootings that we need a go-between? I felt manipulated, and frankly, bored.... Read more Read less

See it if You are interested in a personal and focused point of view relating to a school shooting. It’s an easy dose of an overwhelming experience

Don't see it if You want an all encompassing retelling of a horrible school shooting. It is emotionally on the light side and is well written but light

See it if You wish to see the kind of play that tackles the trauma of a school shooting in the quiet routines of the school a year after the tragedy.

Don't see it if The topic of school based violence and shootings is not to your taste. You don't wish to contemplate lives of those who die & those spared.

Also I liked the playwright's approach to writing this play. Mr. DeMers decided to do away with a direct event narrative, but instead circumvented & filled in all the small spaces that make up the minutes, the hours, the memories of an event that forever traumatized & changed the lives of those who were witnesses, but survived & carried the guilt of having done so.

Forever questioning the absurdity of why and walking on life's eggshells & reluctant to grab life's opportunities. Instead living on the memory threads that appear at odd moments and hit you like a ringing pin-ball machine. The dead act the ordinary moments in the survivors' flashbacks. Cigarettes snuck on the roof, a painted-shut window needing fixing, a hornet's nest that comes to symbolize the evil that momentarily landed on the school, but left so much physical and psychic sorrow.

A year is a good time to check back on how the survivors are doing. Those gone are not forgotten but live on when remembered by those around.... Read more Read less

See it if You enjoy cute high school scenes and emotional acting by a mostly young cast.

Don't see it if You don't care much about school theme drama

See it if you enjoy emotional roll coaster ride of human relations in difficult and evolving circumstances.

Don't see it if you don't want to re-live the teenage angst