Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"..."The Play About My Dad" is not without some moving sequences, and both the piece and this product have integrity. There's no questioning Killebrew's affection for her home community. But self-referential plays aren't an easy match for natural disaster, times when nobody really cares about who owns whose story."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...But instead of attempting to realistically dramatize the cataclysm, The Play About My Dad self-referentially focuses on the act of making the play itself, with Boo appearing as a character in her own creation. Boo incorporates the stories of several survivors and victims of the 2005 tragedy, including an elderly woman who had helped raise Larry, two emergency medical workers whom Boo had grown up with, and an eight-year-old boy who ended up in Larry's care after his parents disappeared in rising floodwaters. Director Marti Lyons's midwest premiere is beautifully acted and inventively designed."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The performances have a uniformly burrowed intensity, but special attention must be given to Mack, who moves so effortlessly between his chipper, just-happy-to-be-here attitude about acting in a play about himself to sudden swells of pain and regret that consume everything on stage. Agada and Horst also provide a few appreciated moments of humor and levity as two lifelong friends who now spend their days cramped in the same ambulance waiting for bad news."
Theatre By Numbers - Highly Recommended
"...There is too much in my head to write about this play. When it comes down to it, it is a piece that I will be thinking about for a long time. But, for the sake of brevity, I'll suggest that you take in the show yourself. Then, I can share more of my thoughts over a beer or two. For now, I just want to congratulate the folks at the Raven for a touching, moving evening of theatre that really hit me where it counts."
ChicagoCritic - Not Recommended
"...We see each group, the family, the elderly woman and the paramedics go to their deaths quite nonchalantly. And after a awkward final scene, this play ends. The show was paced slowly with too many empty dead space. The acting ranged from adequate to poor and the directing seems unsure. But the main disappointment here was that the tragedy of hurricane Katrina was given second place to the father-daughter squabble. Who picked this play?"
Around The Town Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...“The Play About My Dad”, written by Boo Killebrew, tells of her father, a doctor in Gulfport, Mississippi, who stayed behind to take care of patients. The play is written in a confusing manner as when we enter the theater, we see what appears to be housing that is being built ( perhaps after the storm) and yet, it is used to symbolize other ports in the storm. The Doctor ( well played by Joe Mack) and his daughter are estranged, and have been for some time."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Hurricane Katrina is a difficult topic to encompass, yet in its brief 90 minutes, “The Play About My Dad” offers a sincere, emotional contribution to what will surely be our never-ending grappling with the storm and its broad implications."
The Fourth Walsh - Somewhat Recommended
"...I liked THE PLAY ABOUT MY DAD. The poignant hurricane storytelling is evocative. And I even liked the idea of a daughter-father collaboration from his experiences and their relationship. I just didn’t want so many contrived Jerry Springer moments trying to stir up the past and taking away from the bigger drama, Hurricane Katrina."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Ample focus is still given to the others on stage: a pair of anticipatory ambulance workers played by Patrick Agada and Nick Horst, a nervous couple (the truly excellent pairing of Paloma Nozicka and Miguel Nunez) trying to calm their son (Aaron Lamm), and the elderly woman who cared for Boo's father in his youth (Sandra Watson, who delivers the play's most heartbreaking performance). But the focus of Killebrew's script, and Raven's wonderfully minimal production, is on the reconciliation of father and daughter, separated by the storm despite Boo not being there. At about 100 minutes, with intermission, there's nothing added to the play that feels superfluous. It's just Boo and her dad, telling these stories about Katrina-and their own story."