Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...I haven't seen Andersson's or Gernand's plays, but Chicago playwright Brynne Frauenhoffer's Church Hurt, now in a world premiere with Red Theater under Jessica Love's direction, is an incredibly smart and moving portrait of the lingering effects of a childhood and adolescence spent entwined in church. I have seldom seen a play where doubt and faith are juxtaposed with so much nuance, and where characters speak so truthfully to each other about how a deeply held faith has shaped who they are."
Stage and Cinema
- Recommended
"...Backlit by strips of light and surrounded by walls of blond, bland wood, an enormous crucifix is the first thing that greets you in Red Theater’s production of Church Hurt, the new play by Brynne Frauenhoffer making its world premiere at The Edge Off Broadway. The church in question is called The Summit, a nondenominational megachurch in a small Midwestern town. The play opens with the return of a prodigal daughter. Mar (Sara Sadjadi) abandoned the church a few years prior and moved to the big city, but things haven’t worked out well for her since she left. Lacking any other options, she has come back to her hometown and is living in her mother’s basement."
Around The Town Chicago
- Recommended
"...One of the beautiful parts of being a part of the Chicago area theater scene is the many new companies that bring new ideas and talent to our stages. Tonight, I went to The Edge Off Broadway Theatre to see a production by Red Theater ( not to be confused with Red Orchid or Red Twist). The play is a World Premiere written by Brynne Frauenhoffer, called “Church Hurt,” and deals with some of the changes that have affected the members of a particular church. Directed by Jessica Love on a set designed by Rose Johnson, the three actors in this story each have stories to tell, and while they do intersect, and each one truly needs to “belong”, their lifestyles are not what “The Summit” (the church) can allow."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Recommended
"...The conversations between them all are laugh out loud funny and often a thoughtful exploration of how to exist in a world where the definition of what is an acceptable identity is extremely narrow. There is no easy answer to those questions, and playwright Brynne Frauenhoffer doesn't offer any. Instead, for ninety minutes, we watch three people grapple with their reality and what they wish their reality could be, and, perhaps, find some companionship in the meantime."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...How does someone maintain their faith when the institution they grew up loving refuses to accept who they are? This question lies at the heart of Red Theater's world premiere of Church Hurt, written by Brynne Frauenhoffer and directed by Jessica Love. As three women reconnect at their childhood church, the production explores the lasting effects of religious exclusion, the complexities of friendship, and the difficult journey toward self-acceptance."
PicksInSix
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Upon stepping into Red Theater’s world premiere production of “Church Hurt,” one can’t help but notice the massive cross mounted in the center of the stage. The audience rings three walls of this intimate space, which scenic designer Rose Johnson has dressed in neutral whites and browns. Lighting designer Amina Gilbert brings in pops of color via light strips along the cross and stairs. Throughout the show, Director Jessica Love has ensured that there is no inch of the minimalist stage untouched by actors, thus providing everyone with excellent sightlines. And the fast transitions from scene to scene are aided by music from sound designer Kate Schnetzer."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Chicago based playwright Brynne Frauenhoffer has a gift for taking us places few other storytellers explore. From uncovering the extraordinary in ordinary places like Pizza Hut to drawing the curtain back on a building in Miami where young women from across the country are recruited to do sex work, her curiosity drives her to seek out lives that often go unseen."
Ben Kaye Words
- Highly Recommended
"...For those allergic to religious service, perhaps I can offer the next best thing; Brynne Frauenhoffer's world premiere play Church Hurt, directed by Jessica Love, now playing at the Edge Off Broadway as part of Red Theater's latest season. To call it one of the best plays I've seen this year might seem like a hyperbolic declaration to lob right at you so early in this review, but all I can ask is that you put some faith in me that I wouldn't bandy about such high praise so wantonly. It really is that marvelous."
NewCity Chicago
- Recommended
"...Frauenhoffer’s play, directed by Jessica Love, dissects both faith and doubt, with a special eye trained on Christianity’s evolution over millennia. Thankfully, “Church Hurt” isn’t a play where three characters each represent a contrasting viewpoint; the dialectical material, on the difficulty of detaching from and unlearning the rhetoric you grew up with, flows easily through each character. Sara Sadjadi, Alice Wu and Laura Michele Erle are excellent, creditably portraying an old friend group coming back together, with credit due to Love’s excellent handle on Frauenhoffer’s text."
