PicksInSix Review: Church Hurt - Red Theater
Three Women Walk Into A Church.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Perse Grammer
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.
“Church Hurt” starts with Mar, who after several years living in Chicago, has returned to work at her hometown church with her childhood friends. Faith is happy to hear Mar is leaving behind her life of alcoholism and same-sex attraction, whereas the open-minded Julie is more skeptical. As Mar and Julie reconnect, Julie learns that Mar is lying about her return to faith and disavowal of lesbianism for the sake of employment. This stands in stark contrast to Julie’s open bisexuality as she tries to increase inclusion within her religious community. But conflict surrounding an upcoming baptism causes Julie to question her place in the church, and her friendship with Faith.
This is a three woman show, and each actress brings something different to the table. As Mar, Sara Sadjadi portrays bluntness and edge that is refreshing in contrast to Faith and Julie’s constant smiles. Alice Wu (Faith) delivers the forced enthusiasm of someone frantically trying to keep herself from spiraling, which makes her moments of desperate vulnerability all the more satisfying to witness. And Laura Michele Erle meets these two extremes in the middle, portraying the natural kindness and conviction of a character like Julie. Costume designer kClare McKellaston has distinctly outfitted each actress in modest yet modern Midwest Christian outfits.
Playwright Brynne Frauenhoffer’s dialogue is funny in the way where it takes a few seconds for the joke to creep up on you, and then you burst out laughing when it does. But Frauenhoffer also takes us to sadder places, such as a conversation between Mar and Faith about their very difficult breakups. The history and friendship between the three women is hammered in throughout the show, especially when the pressures of church fade away during a lockdown Nerf gun fight. Frauenhoffer has created an interesting clash on perspective of queerness and its place in religion through Mar and Julie as two sapphic women. However, once it’s revealed that Mar is lying about repressing lesbianism for the church’s sake, there isn’t much more conflict between them. In the one scene taking place outside of the church, the two have a bonding moment over dating women and how absurd the purity culture they grew up in was. I enjoyed how there wasn’t any romantic tension between the two. However, because they begin the play confident in the validity of their queerness, there isn’t much for them to deconstruct throughout the show. Whether Julie’s beliefs around sexuality and Christianity are new to you depends on how queer and online you’ve been for the last ten years.
I wish we had the opportunity to see more of Faith, who was somewhat sidelined in the middle of the story. Unlike Mar and Julie, she is still deeply affected by the purity culture she was raised in, which convinces her she’s an adulterer for having premarital sex. Her role as a Christian woman also drives her to despair over her dating life, or lack thereof. Throughout the show, Faith refuses to engage in conversations about queerness that don’t involve disavowing same-sex attraction. We eventually learn that this isn’t out of ignorance—Faith has been reading all of the theories and arguments that Julie sends her. She just can’t figure out how to think critically about her Christianity without feeling as if she’s betraying it. It’d be easy to dislike her if Faith didn’t clearly hold a deep love for her friends and also wasn’t struggling under religious expectations. Because Mar and Julie are more static in their beliefs and growth, lending additional focus to Faith’s internal conflict could have explored the effects of Christian indoctrination more deeply. She is an uncomfortable character, but a play about religious trauma isn’t the place to pull your punches. Leaning into that discomfort and complicating the convictions of Mar and Julie could lead to a tenser, more nuanced three-sided conflict.
“Church Hurt” has good bones, and a lovely team behind it. I’m excited to see how this play develops.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | PERSE GRAMMER is a multidisciplinary writer and theatre artist based in Chicago. Grammer is currently developing their latest play through a mentorship with Sandy Shinner at Shattered Globe Theatre. They hold a BFA in Playwriting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. www.persegrammer.com
PHOTO | Wannabe Studio
Red Theater
presents
World Premiere
Church Hurt
The Edge Off Broadway
1133 W. Catalpa Ave
through November 21, 2026
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