In Quietness Reviews

Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended

"...Moench has become a busy TV writer since she wrote this play and you can see plenty of evidence here that she must be very valuable in a writer's room working with preordained arcs. And it's good to see Burch, one of Chicago's most exciting actors, in such a rich role. Burch is a phenomenal onstage listener and gives this one everything she's got -and drives the show with her intensity."

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended

"...Director dado’s acute ear for finding humanity in absurdity is invaluable here, as she sends audiences down a twisted vortex where gender roles and relationships are governed by the Bible, as it is interpreted by an insular, seemingly isolated clan of Southern Baptists."

Chicago Reader - Recommended

"...Through late plot twists that shatter the tranquility of a Homemaking House luncheon, Moench upends assumptions about each of the characters and their motivations. Although I found some of the revelations to be more believable than others, the overarching point holds that these are imperfect people trying to fulfill their deepest needs and desires within systems that hem them in—whether religious, societal, or marital. There is no neat resolution for anyone, as there so rarely is in life, but there’s compassion to be found in their messy stories."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended

"...Many years ago I gave the homily at a friend's wedding: I said that instead of crystal and silver, the most lasting and symbolic wedding gift might just be an industrial sized roll of duct tape and a box of high quality cleaning rags. In Red Orchid's latest show In Quietness, playwright Anna Ouyang Moench excavates the truth of this advice."

Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended

"...With thoughtful direction and sound performances, A Red Orchid’s first production of 2024 is humorous and certainly thought-provoking. Anna Ouyang Moench’s play is an entertaining comic drama that raises a whole lot of questions. It also challenges many contemporary beliefs about gender as well as ideas concerning religion. But one thing the play doesn’t do is provide sound answers, advice or conclusions. Those are up to each audience member."

Third Coast Review - Somewhat Recommended

"...In Quietness at A Red Orchid Theatre asks a lot of its audience, especially an urban liberal (most likely) audience. The play pits feminism against fundamentalist religion. It asks us to believe that a successful Manhattan consulting executive would leave her lucrative job and follow her cheating husband to a Texas seminary. Worst of all, it expects us to believe that woman would also allow herself to be enrolled in the seminary’s Homemaking House, where she will learn how to be a pastor’s quiet, obedient spouse."

Chicago On Stage - Recommended

"...Moench’s script and dado’s direction allow the audience multiple possible ways to interpret and react to all of this. In Quietness won’t settle any left vs. right religious wars, but it will definitely make you think."