REVIEWS
“CRACKLING, RESONANT, HUMOROUS. I WISH EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS WOULD SEE IT!”
- NPR
“PLENTY OF HUMOR - Jason Odell Williams presents his argument so entertainingly, few would object to going along for the ride. A CRACK CAST!”
- Time Out NY
“Church & State will be heading East soon as it makes its well deserved journey across country. This is a powerful, often humorous, and highly contemporary piece about a North Carolina senator running for re-election.... The play has several surprises, four fascinating characters, and so many lines that resonate. Even though the character is not Trump-like, per se, those on his campaign beg him not to go off script, at onetime asking, “sir, are you trying to self-sabotage”? The playwright, of course, is happy to see the play get such strong attention, but also admits he hopes it becomes obsolete... meaning that the country finally stops embarrassing itself and does something about guns.”
– Huffington Post
“Playwright Jason Odell Williams is a postmodern Clifford Odets. Yet Williams is no mere sloganeer, and ‘Church’ is no broadside. Williams avoids demonizing his conservative Southerners, who are winning, strikingly intelligent, and above all, sincere in their beliefs…. The moral struggle that follows fuels a sophisticated dialectic that presents both sides of the gun debate…. It’s surprisingly subtle and gripping entertainment. Simply superb!”
– Los Angeles Times
“DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST PLAYS OF THE YEAR! Williams is a playwright to watch. He has managed to do what most have not, which is to take this divided country and break through the walls of our heart and make us think and feel. BRAVO!”
- Times Square Chronicles
“PACKS AN EMOTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL PUNCH UNMATCHED BY ANYTHING I’VE SEEN THIS SEASON!”
- The Gay City News
"Church & State, at Berkshire Theatre Group's Unicorn Theatre, is play about gun control, belief in God, and political ambition. Scarily effective, fervently enacted and also laced with multiple comic opportunities, Jason Odell Williams' excellent script yields, in the end, to SEARING THEATER."
- Talkin' Broadway
"Art, it's been said, can hold a mirror to life. It also can offer a vision of life — society — as we would like it to be. It is much to playwright Jason Odell Williams' credit that he manages to do both in his play, Church & State. Directed with finesse by Charlotte Cohn, [the] production moves at a clean, purposeful clip. For all the weight of the play's themes and discussions, there is, until the sobering ending, a buoyancy here, a lightness of being that is very much in keeping with a play whose ideas, rather than shape the characters who embody them, are shaped by the characters. "
- Berkshire Eagle
"The play's characters debate and rethink the timely topics that affect us all, divide our country, and define our politicians. Strikes a resonant note about listening to the perspective of others and putting yourself in their shoes.”
- DC Metro Theater Arts
“I went to see a ‘seriously funny new comedy’ Seventy-eight minutes later, my mascara is all over my face, what with the weeping and the wiping that preceded the curtain call. Though dressed as a comedy, Church & State PACKS A SURPRISING PHILOSOPHICAL PUNCH."
- Front Row Center
“A mesmeric production of a captivating, thought-provoking new play sure to only advance the career of a promising new dramatist. [A] brightly intelligent and often hilariously on-target script, it is deserving of high praise! If Williams’ exceptional play does nothing else, let’s hope it makes its point and sparks further desperately needed debate.... Furiously funny and disarmingly real. Brilliant!”
– Arts in L.A.
“Every now and again a brilliant play comes your way, strong enough to knock you off your complacent ledge, inspiring social and political change within you, and entertaining us like not much you've ever seen before. Such is the world premiere of Church & State. Jason Odell Williams' pulsating, authoritative drama... With a career-enhancing performance by Rob Nagle... unfolds for us in 90 minutes, no intermission, with both humor and pathos. You must not skip this production of a timely drama reflecting the times we live in and see acted out daily.”
– Edge Media Network
“A powerful, thought-provoking, button-pushing ‘gun-control comedy’ (that’s right, comedy!) Rob Nagle gives career-best performance. WOW!”
– Stage Scene L.A.
“TOP TEN PICK! Oh, how satisfying it is to watch...Williams’ timely and aptly titled political drama…. Rob Nagle at his splendid best...truly is flawless and sweeps us to a stirring catharsis!”
– Stage Raw
“Funny, human, devastating, brave and powerful... [With] very clear characters and tight writing, Church & State speaks to the lunacy of modern politics. Rob Nagle is funny, relatable, and a true talent on stage.”
– L.A. Theatre Bites
“A timely and thought-provoking piece of entertainment… Williams has taken some highly controversial issues and framed them in very personal and often amusing ways. The humor and the pain coalesce, just as they often do in real life. The audience cares about what happens to [these characters] and cannot help but remain engrossed throughout the tale. Very funny… fast-paced and entertaining!”
– L.A. Splash
“When a play is performed that touches our emotions while broaching the struggles of our era, it becomes a sort of prayer. So it is with the marvelous new play by Jason Odell Williams, Church & State. ...As timely as the nightly news, and just as troubling.... For those who are devoted to theater that is absorbing, relevant and controversial ‘Church & State’ is a show for you. You’ll laugh knowingly at familiar political and interpersonal tropes, cry helplessly for the seemingly irresolvable issues facing our nation and our world, and possibly think and dialogue deeply subsequent to this profound experience in the theater -- and perhaps even pray.”
– Beachcomber Newspaper
“This show is stunning. Beautiful writing, directing (by Charlotte Cohn, who does pitch-perfect work with every aspect of the show) and acting. It’s so timely and so heartbreaking – but it’s also quite funny and human... I want everyone to make seeing this show a priority; it’s not often something this well-written and this timely comes to the stage. This is something everyone needs to experience because it is what we are experiencing, every day, and you owe it to yourself as a member of society to watch, digest and discuss with others. This is theater with purpose, and my gratitude to the company for bringing it to us.”
– The Alt
“Church & State is one of the most stunningly relevant plays currently onstage, and it's not because of election season (though that doesn't hurt). It's because of human nature, and because there will always be trauma and doubt and redemption.”
- Rochester City Newspaper
“Superb! Entertaining and thought-provoking--just what you want in a show.”
- Stage Notes, WXXI FM
“Politics, God and guns -- can anything be more appropriate on stage nowadays? Church & State is a biting drama (with a lot of wit) … great humor and humanity. A thoughtful and engaging script … Kudos to all!”
- Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
“Keep your eye on playwright Jason Odell Williams. If he keeps writing plays as extraordinary and impassioned as his latest play, Church & State, he may in time be hailed as this country’s newest Eugene O’Neill. Powerful... real... amazing, impeccable... flawless... exquisite.”
