Denver Center Theatre Company, World Premiere - Winter, 2006
"Playwright Lemon needs only his pen to disarm the audience with pointed one-liners and thoughtful existential observations. Lemon has hit upon a genre that--as irreverent and at times as profane as rap, yet filled with pertinent issues and rebellious politics--will bring them (Gen-X) into the theater for cultural conversation. After readings at the Southern Writers Project, Hartford Stage and Steppenwolf Theater, the world-premiere version of Jesus Hates Me knows its audience." Bob Bows, Variety
"In its West Coast premiere, Wayne Lemon's irreverent dramedy about the search for meaning may offend as often as it convulses, but it's certainly vivid. Lemon's narrative is both wildly inappropriate and keenly idiomatic. There's a compassionate point beneath its quirky corrosion." David C. Nichols, Los Angeles Times
"Such is the setting of Lemon's dark irreverent comedy, and director Oanh Nguyen has a firm grip on the dramatic pulse of it all. Under his superb insight, the bawdy humor is so hysterical you'll split your sides laughing; while you're cringing in recognition of what's happening." Shirle Gottleib, Stagehappenings
The Chance Theater, West Coast Premiere - Winter, 2009
"Jesus Hates Me is a character study, a comedy, a dramatic statement, a fleeting discourse on religion, an exploration of belief, a brief treatise on predestination versus self-determination and a whole lot of fun. It is alive as few plays are, and it works on both emotional and intellectual levels." Gary Zeidner, Centerstage, Boulder Weekly
"...an exquisite comedy, featuring dark black lines of intriguing thought, with some of the funniest lines ever to appear on stage. Lemon has done an amazing piece of work supplying laughable lines toppling over each other, at the same time providing depth and quality and food for thought buried within the story line." Holly Bartges, Colorado Back Stage
The Chance Theater, West Coast Premiere - Winter, 2009
"The fact that the play is packaged as a comedy should help some of its more bitter medicine go down a little easier. "Jesus," though, is anything but a laugh-a-minute comedy. Its chuckles are peppered over a dramatic foundation of substance, grounded in basic truths about theology. Lemon is a keen observer of human flaws and frailties. For those seeking unbridled laughter, "Jesus" is a balm. Lemon skillfully merges dozens of minute details to form a seriocomic mosaic. Up close, much of it is pointedly funny. From a distance, it's sickly-sad." Eric Marchese, Orange County Register
"You expect a play titled Jesus Hates Me to be at least mildly outrageous, and Kitchen Dog Theater doesn't disappoint. This risk-taking troupe's Texas premiere of Wayne Lemon's devoutly irreverent comedy pushes all manner of buttons. A- " Perry Stewart, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"...the lasting impression of the play is pathos, as the audience helplessly watches the characters make a mess of their lives, longing for but not daring to hope for relief, crying out for mercy, compassion, acceptance and forgiveness without actually repenting, and projecting their self-loathing and guilt onto the only one who can rescue them. The Denver Center Theatre company should be commended for giving Lemon a chance to vent, as he speaks for many who are struggling to find meaning in their lives." Fr. Patrick Dorn, Colorado Christian Drama Review
The Chance Theater, West Coast Premiere - Winter, 2009
"Billed as a dark comedy, Wayne Lemon's 2005 play is more of a dramedy, with as much darkness and despair as laughs. Oanh Nguyen's staging of the play's West Coast premiere emphasizes the interrelationships of the six characters, letting the laughs fall where they may." Eric Marchese, Backstage
"Life in small town South Central Texas is anything but dull in Jesus Hates Me, Wayne Lemon's quirky dark comedy getting its West Coast Premiere in a beautifully acted and directed by (by Oanh Nguyen) production at Anaheim Hill's Chance Theater." Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA
The Chance Theater, West Coast Premiere - Winter, 2009
"With "Jesus Hates Me," Denver Center artistic director Kent Thompson continues his bold new vision for the company. The irreverent attitude and immediate appeal of this piece will surely attract a new, younger caste of theater lovers hooked by the humor and impressed by its thematic depths." Metrospective
"...provocative...exceptionally well acted, impressively physical and ultimately about something more than finding the laugh lines." Chris Vognar, The Dallas Morning News
Kitchen Dog Theater, Texas Premiere - Fall, 2006
Poster design by Scott McGowen/Denver Center Theatre Company