Runaway Home Reviews
Los Angeles Times- Recommended
"...Kamps has a way with dialogue and the Louisiana patois, and under Shirley Jo Finney's sensitive direction, the actors inhabit their characters with endearing naturalism, even during the expressionistic, poetic interludes. Their conversations are so entertaining that they frequently mask the clanking and grinding of the plot's gears, at least until the implausible, puzzling denouement."
Broadway World- Recommended
"...Much props must be given to Camille Spirlin for her unflinching, unapologetic portrayal of the unsympathetic, totally evil main character of Kali, of which RUNAWAY HOME revolves around. Runaway teenager Kali has no hesitation in blackmailing a Latino storekeeper, scaring an elderly neighbor with the ghost of his dead wife, slapping her mother in her face or stone-faced lying about the life or deaths of her mother and grandmother."
Stage Scene LA- Highly Recommended
"...A fourteen-year-old far too smart, self-assured, and resourceful for her own good takes to the streets of New Orleans three years after Hurricane Katrina lay waste to the city's Lower Ninth Ward in Jeremy J. Kamps' Runaway Home, a Fountain Theatre World Premiere that proves every bit as compelling a slice-of-post-Katrina-life as it is a bona fide crowd-pleaser."
Stage Raw- Highly Recommended
"...Director Shirley Jo Finney has given us a richly textured tapestry of life in the aftermath of Katrina after assembling a strong cast and deploying it with verve, sympathy and humor. The play is saved from being merely a political tract by the richness of its characters, the richest being Kali herself - a bright teenager who has had to learn to be a liar and con-artist to survive. Spirlin turns in a vivid, funny, and moving performance, while Robinson's Eunice, strong and disenchanted, ultimately proves a loving mother. Tichnell's Lone Wolf is a well-meaning but pretentious and preachy pseudo-intellectual, and all the others provide strong support."
On Stage and Screen- Recommended
"...Overall, Runaway Home combines many strong elements into a snapshot of a specific moment in time that manages to feel universal and relevant."
Capital And Main- Somewhat Recommended
"...Still, whatever its shortcomings, the play is almost too timely for comfort. Storms batter our coasts while climate deniers reign. We seem destined to repeat errors of the past, with the most vulnerable suffering once more from the folly of the powerful."
Ticket Holders LA- Recommended
"...Runaway Home is a tale that will make you angry and frustrated more than change your worldview. Kamps never really offers a glimmer of hope or a possible cure for what ails these people or our faltering country in its current fascist state, but he brings the desperate world of Eunice and Kali to life with rich depictions of the troubles and inequities faced by so many others in similar situations, be they environmental or societal. No climate change, you say, Dotard Donnie? Drop dead, will you, and take your uncaring zombie appointees with you. We want our country back."