Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...“Keerah” needs a lot of attention to Act 2, but it bops along delightfully in Act 1 as everyone talks James Joyce and Frederick Douglass and recites Shakespearean sonnets from memory."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...The show, written by Chicago actor and first time playwright Netta Walker, who has a recurring role in the CW's "All American: Homecoming," centers around the meet-cute and intense summer fling between Ciara (played by Walker), a young African American woman working in a Logan Square restaurant, and her Irish coworker Cormac (Beck Nolan), who is in the country on a J1 Visa."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Aside from racial and ethnic caricature, Walker leans hard on classic literature and well-known music whenever she wants to communicate the feelings of her characters, making them into cliches rather than individuals. Christmas is the standout—she commands the stage in a largely thankless buddy role, imbuing her performance with dimension beyond the writing. I would have liked to know her story instead of Ciara’s. As to the setting, anyone who’s spent more than a week in Chicago knows Malört jokes are strictly for the tourist crowd."
Stage and Cinema
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The premise is a strong one. Ciara (“Keerah” in the Irish pronunciation from which the title is derived), played by Walker, is working in a Chicago restaurant managed by her best friend Lucy (Cat Christmas). There she meets Cormac (Beck Nolan), an Irish immigrant whose work visa is about to expire. Their relationship begins with an engaging meet-cute and quickly deepens through conversations about poetry, literature, Sisyphus, and the natural world (both are aspiring writers). Meanwhile, Lucy is romantically entwined with Cormac’s flatmate Finn (Jacob Coggshall), creating an increasingly tangled web of personal and professional relationships."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...At its core, the play explores the emotional collateral of real-life trauma and loss, and the ever-present issue in our society today of the heartbreak of loving someone across strict international borders and immigration laws. In Definition's write-up, the question was asked, "Can you rewrite the past, and should you?" Walker's production of Keerah lends credence to the idea that maybe you can. Walker's next play, "Hayward," arrives in Chicago this fall. She is an amazing actor and, based on her production of Kerrah, an exceptionally talented playwright as well."
Buzz Center Stage
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Definition Theatre's Amplify New Play Program exists to elevate emerging voices, and Netta Walker's keerah certainly arrives with ambition. Loosely inspired by the mythological lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, the play explores race, identity, love, and memory through the relationship between Ciara and Cormac. While the production benefits from strong performances and excellent design work, the script ultimately struggles to transform its compelling ideas into equally compelling drama."
