Miller, wearing a kilt and holding a bloody knife, dodges away from Parkinson, who sits downstage & turns back toward Miller

Quintessence director Alex Burns addresses community concerns about his “all-male” Shakespeare productions

“When does the community get to abort someone else’s creative impulse?”
When Quintessence artistic director Alex Burns announced plans for his latest all-male Shakespeare production, he struck a nerve with the local theater community. He talks with Alaina Johns in defense of his vision.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 9 minute read
Wright, a smiling Black dancer leaps in strappy brown sandals & a magenta dress, the skirt billowing up around her hips.

PHILADANCO! presents Roots and Reflections

A vivid history of late 20th-century Black choreography
With its spring program, Roots and Reflections, PHILADANCO! drew on popular works from past decades to prove that the vivid history of Black choreography still speaks to us today. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Reviews 4 minute read
Title and promo quotes appear in neon light-purple over a dark field, with a person silhouetted against a static-filled TV

SpringFest 2024 presents In a Violent Nature, The Idea of You, and I Saw the TV Glow

Honoring the cinematic legacy of the 1990s
The Philadelphia Film Society’s annual Springfest brings popular films from Sundance and other festivals to town. This year, three prominent films paid homage to the cinematic legacy of the 1990s. Stephen Silver reviews.
Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver

Reviews 4 minute read
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Woodsy view from the ground, looking far up the trunk into the multicolored autumn foliage against a blue sky.

The Museum for Art in Wood presents To Understand a Tree

Our arboreal family
A new exhibition by woodworker and interdisciplinary artist Gina Siepel at the Museum for Art in Wood asks what happens when we regard trees as “you” rather than “it”. Anndee Hochman reviews.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Reviews 5 minute read
With luxuriant 70s hair, Ernst & Matarrese sit facing each other over a fancy desk, working on typewriters in a dark room.

Resident Ensemble Players presents Ira Levin’s Deathtrap

Well-deserved screams for the stage
Both movie and live theater audiences love thrillers, so why are frightening plays relatively rare? The University of Delaware’s Resident Ensemble Players delivers with a scary new production of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 4 minute read
Painting of 9 Black women in dresses around the edge of a sunflower quilt with Van Gogh beside, sunflowers all around them.

Delaware Art Museum presents There is a Woman in Every Color: Black Women in Art

A better picture of Black women in American history
Current representations of Black women in American history are improving, and a traveling exhibition now at Delaware Art Museum is a welcome addition to the trend. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
Three performers on stage—two on saxophone, one on drums—white muslin wall behind them, audience in front

Vox Populi Gallery presents Victor Vieira-Branco’s World Again

Curating surprise with improvised music
In 2023, Victor Vieira-Branco began presenting World Again, a monthly series for improvised music in the black box at Vox Populi Gallery. The music sounds a bit like jazz, a bit classical, but with more surprises. Thomas Hagen profiles.
Thomas Hagen

Thomas Hagen

Profiles 3 minute read
From the waist up, a woman leans face-down on a white table, framed by the angle of one slender arm in a long white glove

Delaware Art Museum presents In Focus

Where women photographers wield intimate power
In a small gallery away from its usual bustle, Delaware Art Museum presents In Focus, a gathering of powerful works by women photographers featured from the museum collection. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 3 minute read
Zion, in a gray tee, sits on a couch by Hodge, in a plaid bathrobe. Satie, in white sheath & headwrap, stands behind them

InterAct Theatre Company presents Deborah Zoe Laufer’s The Last Yiddish Speaker

Imagining life for Jews after a successful insurrection
Deborah Zoe Laufer’s The Last Yiddish Speaker, getting its world premiere at InterAct, offers a striking glimpse into the specificity of Jewish generational trauma, but it needs something more. Josh Herren reviews.
Josh Herren

Josh Herren

Reviews 3 minute read
Bergen, in the foreground, shares a park bench with DaPonte. Both men look outward with worried, contemplative expressions

Plays and Players presents Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story

Paper tiger
Plays and Players presents Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story, in a flat restaging that fails to capture the play’s primal power. Kiran Pandey reviews.
Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey

Reviews 4 minute read
Ngo, in a white embroidered dress & veil, sits looking thoughtful while a multiracial ensemble crowds around in various poses

The Wilma Theater presents Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Setzuan

Reversing Orientalist tropes
Kindhearted Shen Te invents a ruthless businessman alter-ego when her generosity overtakes her wallet in The Good Person of Setzuan, presented in this “radically reclaimed” production at the Wilma centering Asian artists. Mina Reinckens reviews.
Mina Reinckens

Mina Reinckens

Reviews 3 minute read
Unsettling oil painting of a skinny boy in shorts, shirt, tie & black cape pointing down toward his wooden hand-lettered sign

The Brandywine Museum of Art presents Jamie Wyeth: Unsettled

A Wyeth who casts his own shadow
A bold, chilling, and magnetic new Brandywine Museum of Art exhibition disentangles Jamie Wyeth from the legacies of his father and grandfather. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 5 minute read
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Two teenagers, one in a black hoodie and the other in a yellow hoodie, sit at a table side by side reading a script aloud.

The BSR Podcast, Season 8, episode 4: Talking Philly Theatre Week 2024 with Sabriaya Shipley

Celebrating seven years of Philly's spring theater festival
Podcast host Darnelle Radford sits down with Theatre Philadelphia executive director Sabriaya Shipley to talk all things Philly Theatre Week 2024, and the issues facing our modern arts scene.
Darnelle Radford

Darnelle Radford

Podcast 1 minute read
Six kids and two adults at podiums play recorders on stage. Audience members hold up their phones, taking pictures

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, April 11-17, 2024

Spring Fest, Difficult Grace, and the annual Freedom Seder
Philadelphia Film Society hosts a selection of Philly premieres, Piffaro’s Recorder Fest returns, an evening of cabaret at Rittenhouse, and Freedom Seder invites everyone to dinner. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
A person in all black attire on stage, with light hoops swirling around their arms. A DJ is behind them on elevated platform

Marie Curie's Radiant Ball at the Mütter Museum

Fancy, jazzy science
The Mütter Museum is inviting Philladelphians to put on their best scientific chic to celebrate Marie Curie’s legacy. Crystal Sparrow previews.
Crystal Sparrow

Crystal Sparrow

Previews 2 minute read
Against a white backdrop, Jeter, a Black dancer, poses on tiptoe, bending & gesturing to a black wicker object on the ground

Gary W. Jeter II presents Filaments

A Philly dancer becomes a choreographer of note
Philadelphia dancer and choreographer Gary W. Jeter II presents Filaments, a work exploring connections between humans and the structure of the universe. Melissa Strong reviews.
Melissa Strong

Melissa Strong

Reviews 4 minute read
A woman of Asian descent appears to yell, looking at cam, in b&w except for her red floral shirt and plant leaves behind her

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, April 4-10, 2024

Picks for Philly Theatre Week 2024
The seventh annual Philly Theatre Week is back, and here’s what’s on our radar. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
Simpson in sparkling sequin vest and a wizard-like hat holds a guitar above his torso, stands in front of a mic on stage

E.J. Simpson presents Jesus Christ Superstar

Rising through tradition
An 18 year tradition rises differently this time around, as local musician E.J. Simpson prepares to perform their solo rendition of Jesus Christ Superstar. David Block previews.
David Block

David Block

Previews 3 minute read
A dozen or so players at instruments packed on stage, highlight cast mostly on the conductor. Ambient light fills the rest

BSR Classical Interludes, April 6-14, 2024

Rarefied Airs, (In)Mortality, music of Steve Reich, and more
Gail Obenreder rounds up the first part of April’s classical music events happening in and around the city.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Previews 3 minute read
Two performers in all black formal wear cheers with the host also holding a mic at a small table on stage.

Philadelphia Orchestra presents Orchestra After 5: Haydn and Mozart

A Haydn happy hour
The Philadelphia Orchestra experiments with a new, casual concert format in its Orchestra After 5 series. Cameron Kelsall previews their latest event.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Previews 3 minute read
Lee, a Black man, in gold pants & patterned gold tank, poses with arms gracefully outspread with a colorful starry backdrop

Roger Lee Dance Company presents Galaxy

Turning outer space into a family affair
Roger Lee Dance Company presents Galaxy, a timely new family-friendly performance inspired by the Milky Way. Melissa Strong reviews.
Melissa Strong

Melissa Strong

Reviews 4 minute read
A white woman squats on a brown rock surface, using a wet sponge to reveal an ancient Indigenous carved medicine wheel.

Three free road trips from Philadelphia offer a treasure-hunting trifecta

Hit the road (or the river) to discover fossils, Jersey diamonds, and petroglyphs
Writer Bart Stump is a seasoned local adventurer. He recommends three summer destinations for all kinds of Philly-area treasure hunters, with itineraries in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Bart Stump

Bart Stump

Essays 4 minute read