The Warriors presented by The New Coordinates at Second Stage Theatre

Time Out Chicago - Recommended

"...It’s no coincidence that the play most comes to life when it steps away from its focus on Inboden and her ambivalent relationship to Jonesboro and risks intruding into the daily lives of her fictionalized classmates. A potent scene between Danni (Sarah Gitenstein), now a teacher, and her husband, Logan (Michael Peters), for instance, exposes the impossible lingering questions the shooting poses: How do you live with the perpetrators’ families? How do you handle the constant physical reminders of the events? Settling in Chicago afforded Inboden some distance from the shooting; the piece is at its best when, instead of worrying about the guilt this raised for her, it uses that distance to bring these hard questions home to us."

ChicagoCritic - Recommended

"...While it is a worthy glimpse into the minds and attitudes of the survivors, The Warriors unfolds as a timid, guarded portrait sans any elements of “survivors guilt.”  We learn how difficult it is for any of The Warriors to speak about that day.  Each warrior must deal with their hidden emotions on their own terms. This dramatization highlights some of the issues long simmering by each.  I only wished that this work would have gone deeper into more of the unanswered questions that linger around such traumas."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended

"...Author Evan Linder recreates a lot in a mere 80 minutes.  But New Colony’s offering might have probed a bit further.  We hear next to no memories about the students who were killed, two of whom were best friends.  Even more noticeable is the play’s failure to address the complex and crucial question of survivor guilt (“Why them and not us?”).  These former classmates never wonder aloud about why the killers shot down four classmates and one teacher.  Surely they knew them in some capacity.  We learn much here but the more that we don’t counts as a criticism.  Nonetheless, Hollis is brave to confront this horror and generous to share it with so many strangers."

Chicago Theater Beat - Somewhat Recommended

"...That is what The Warriors attempts to explore, the notion that a shared horrific experience affects the lives of those involved in different ways. We do not witness the actions of that day, but we do watch the fallout."