←Recommendations of #GodHatesYou

A brilliantly compassionate and introspective analysis into the mind of someone raised in a high control group. This play shows what we all know to be true: that openness and kindness are the best way to reach someone. The character of Laurel grows tremendously from beginning to end in a believable and enrapturing way. A great read!

When people use God to meet their own needs to oppress, there's a reckoning that will come form the outside world and you'll have to face the distortion you've been raised to promote. Well done.

Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “#GodHatesYou” by Emily Dendinger as a semifinalist for the 2020 Premiere Play Festival. “#GodHatesYou” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 26 semifinalists out of 939 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by how balanced, smart, funny, and unsentimental this play is. The nuanced arguments between friends about belief are engaging and prompt meaningful self-reflection by Laurel. Our congratulations and thanks to Emily.

"#GodHatesYou" brilliantly utilizes social media and modern politics to tackle ancient arguments had by fanatics of all belief systems. The themes of empathy and honesty make this play shine, as we find ourselves rooting for a character who we initially have zero tolerance for in the play's beginning. Intriguing and thought provoking, Dendinger offers a necessary piece of literature that deserves to be well-known.

Dendinger finds humanity in each of the very flawed characters in this important and bold piece. Laurel's evolution as a character feels organic and plausible, while her fellow congregation members are rendered with a nuanced touch and in a way that helps get to the root of the misguided ways they act upon their beliefs. #GodHatesYou also moves briskly and with a good dose of situation humor to help lighten (and enlighten) some of the darker moments and character motivations throughout. Hope to see this produced far and wide soon!

Emily does the seemingly impossible in #godhatesyou - provides an opportunity to feel empathy for members of a cruel and extremist church. Laurel’s journey of self-discovery is easy to relate to, but the play doesn’t shy away from the abhorrent views and language espoused by her, her family and friends. It’s also the rare show that uses social media in a very dynamic way, and as a power for good. I’m excited to see this play done regionally in both red states and blue.

This play was triggering-ly funny as well as honest and heartbreaking about the painful journey some of us have gone through to escape the hypocrisy of the religions on which we’re raised. Emily makes Laurel’s intimate story feel vital and universal, featuring contemporary dialogue and rich discussions of theology, Twitter feed/online worlds and a fast-paced, action-packed trajectory. Each character is nuanced and comes at their faith and understanding of it from many points of view. I thoroughly enjoyed!

This is a smart, economically written play about a fascinating subject. It delves into the toxic environment that is cultivated when children are born and indoctrinated into a fringe religion. The family has always kept to their own church, protesting outside funerals and synagogues, indulging in their obscure and offensive beliefs. But when the protagonist Laurel tries to engage with a wider audience through social media, she suddenly realizes you can’t put your ideas out into the world, without also letting a bit of the outside world in.

Dendinger accomplishes something very difficult, which is to make us care about people we, for good reason, despise, while never losing sight of her own moral compass and tipping over into sentimentality. Her satire avoids cheap shots in favor of more grounded, precise observation of contradiction, making the journey into this world as cathartic as it is illuminating. The mix of ancient and contemporary, the tension of an old religion existing in a world of twitter and Death Cab, are all fascinating layers in this story of coming-of-age, spiritual doubt, and group toxicity.

#GodHatesYou is a twist on a coming of age tale, told from the perspective of a fundamentalist Christian. With each scene, we follow our hero, Laurel, as she starts to question the beliefs of a religion she was born into. What Dendinger so aptly captures is the disconnect between the things that we say and the things that we feel. I am particularly interested in the ways in which the characters police each other, creating a fabric of fear and anxiety. The use of social media brings this conversation into the here and now.