On The Greenbelt presented by Strawdog Theatre Company at Links Hall

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...And yet, when Strawdog's production lands, it really lands. There's tangible warmth and compassion in Jules's family, both blood and chosen, and each character feels modernly devised and realistically imperfect. And though the road to it can be bumpy and tangential, the final image of Berry's production is a profound synthesis of the altered relationships families who grieve together endure."

Third Coast Review - Recommended

"...I had to look up the Greenbelt in Boise, Idaho, to see if it was a real place-it is. There isn't a lot written about Boise in ways that other cities are described. Terms like conservative, religious, and homogeneous seem to describe the culture for the most part. Once in a while, a scandal focuses on Boise or the beautiful state of Idaho and then it becomes a footnote that we have to google to remember. Playwright and Strawdog ensemble member Karissa Murrell Myers gives us a portrait of a family mired in grief and guilt that transcends a sense of place in On the Greenbelt."

Chicago On Stage - Recommended

"...An unusual opening, to be sure, but, as Karissa Murrell Myers’ On the Greenbelt is a play about the death of a parent and the effect it—and secrets that come out while dealing with it—has on those left behind, the opening makes perfect sense. Indeed, it perfectly encapsulates a reasonable emotional reaction to such an event. As it happens, though, Jules (played by Kathryn Acosta) has even more reason to be speechless."

NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended

"...The Greenbelt is a miles-long semi-wild park in Boise, Idaho. It is also the place where the ashes of Lydia, the adventurous, devout Christian matriarch of this once-close, now troubled, family were to be scattered near dawn according to her wishes. The action opens in this moving, delicately acted play once the ritual is aborted because Lydia's adult daughter, Jules, holed up in her apartment having decided to kill off a bottle of gin and stew in a vat of rage instead. Jules' adopted brother, who is her age, has been close and they have been in each other's confidence their whole lives, but the death of their mother is tearing them apart. The cause is a bundle of secrets that Jules feels she must keep, but which uproot her relationship with her brother and father, her lover and upend her sense of self."