A crowd of people behind a woman of Asian descent. She wears a black shirt that says: “Undocumented, Unafraid, Unapologetic”

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, September 12-18, 2024

‘Shared Vision,’ Wild Indigo poetry, and five decades of contemporary photography
A new monthly poetry series comes to Germantown, a notable painting collection comes to the African American Museum, and a variety of new exhibits highlight the week. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 4 minute read
In front of a huge Chinatown protest march, 3 young Asian people hold a banner saying No arena in the heart of our city

I won’t turn my back on Chinatown: Black and Asian people must stand together in Philly

A Black elder protests the proposed Sixers arena
As a woman in her 70s, West Philly native Constance Garcia-Barrio finds protest marches challenging, but she knew she had to turn out for Chinatown at the No Arena in the Heart of Our City rally on September 7, 2024.
Constance Garcia-Barrio

Constance Garcia-Barrio

Essays 4 minute read
Scammell and Sheppard, in red athletic polos, embrace romantically while Minora looks on worriedly in the background.

Philly Fringe 2024: Lightning Rod Special presents Lee Minora and Scott R. Sheppard’s Nosejob

Off by a nose
Football, feminism, and facial mutilation collide in Nosejob, an ambitious but uneven exploration of sexual politics from Lightning Rod Special in this year's Curated Fringe. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 3 minute read
In a 17th-century graveyard, a Black woman with a blond buzz-cut caresses a younger Black woman sitting in a chair.

Philly Fringe 2024: Christ Church Preservation Trust presents On Buried Ground

Uncovering and imagining Philly’s Black colonial-era histories
A meditation on Black lives in colonial Philadelphia comes to life in a Fringe Festival event featuring archival research, site-specific dance, theater, visual art, and historic documents. Kimberly Haas reviews.

Kimberly Haas

Reviews 3 minute read
In a dramatic misty blue spotlight, a man rises animalistically, bent over with elbows angled up out of a well of viscous goo

Philly Fringe 2024: Gunnar Montana Productions presents BLACK WOOD: WINTERBORN

Gothic horror returns to the Latvian Society
Gunnar Montana returns for this year’s Fringe with a standalone sequel to last year’s BLACK WOOD. The bloody, sexy sorcery continues with WINTERBORN, running through October 30 at the Latvian Society. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Reviews 3 minute read
Three performers in orange, red, and white gowns respectively pose for the camera in a portrait style shot

The 2024 Philly Fringe is heading to South Philly

Find comedy, storytelling, theater, ballet, and music in South Philly this September
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival happens in venues throughout the city, and this year, more shows are popping up in South Philly than ever before. Alaina Johns rounds up the ones she’s hoping to see.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Previews 4 minute read
Cousar, a Black man dressed in black, sits sternly in a red upholstered chair in front of an old, graffitied stone wall.

Philly Fringe 2024: New Paradise Laboratories presents Jeffrey Cousar’s An Avalanche of ‘No’

More memoir than Macbeth
Jeffrey Cousar’s An Avalanche of ‘No’ in the Cannonball hub of this year’s Fringe is a one-man riff on Macbeth that, despite its sincerity, fails to fully engage in the implications of its conceit. Kiran Pandey reviews.
Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey

Reviews 3 minute read
A woman dancer in a green shirt and loose striped pants poses in the doorway of the meeting house, a brick wall behind her.

Philly Fringe 2024: Nichole Canuso Dance Company presents The Garden: River’s Edge

A much-needed moment of peace
Nichole Canuso Dance Company joins the 2024 Curated Philly Fringe with The Garden: River’s Edge, an immersive, interactive performance at the historic Arch Street Meeting House. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Reviews 3 minute read
A group of dancers hold up another dancer in a dim space with deep purple lighting

Philly Fringe 2024: Cannonball Festival presents Tyshaun & Shekinah’s Forbidden Fruit

Fruit growing on the vine
Tyshaun & Shekinah’s Forbidden Fruit, a circus-dance work about Black experiences, is part of Cannonball’s inaugural Black Circus Week. Melissa Strong reviews.
Melissa Strong

Melissa Strong

Reviews 3 minute read
In dramatic red light, Caporaso lurks behind a pillar with the 3 brides behind him. They all wear smudged black eye makeup.

Philly Fringe 2024: REV Theatre Company presents MY BIG FANG VAMPIRE WEDDING

Singing vampires don’t suck
For this year’s cabaret-style Fringe entry, REV Theatre Company takes over a basement nightclub with MY BIG FANG VAMPIRE WEDDING, boasting great music and committed performers. Melissa Strong reviews.
Melissa Strong

Melissa Strong

Reviews 3 minute read
Bonetti, a white man in tight silver bodysuit and light-up sneakers, kicks one foot in the air as he plays an electric guitar

Philly Fringe 2024: 100th Meridian presents Jared Michael Delaney’s T.REXTASY

Rocking in space
Damon Bonetti makes a rocking galactic tour guide in T.REXTASY, an entry in the Fringe and Cannonball Festivals from 100th Meridian. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 2 minute read
Three women in ragged pink princess dresses hang from a mezzanine, below Rudy in a corset and top hat, reaching forward

The 2024 Philly Fringe Festival editor’s picks

Plan your Philly Fringe calendar with help from BSR
The Fringe calendar is always a bit overwhelming: with hundreds of performances throughout the city, where should you begin? Alaina Johns helps out by sharing some of the shows that caught her eye this year.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Previews 5 minute read
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The 3 actors, in black and purple tennis outfits, pose in a line, each making a different gesture with their arms.

Philly Fringe 2024: Hum’n’Bards presents The Boy Bands Have Won and Thomas Choinacky presents Forehand Down the Line

Labor on stage: two different visions of work
This year, two Philly Fringe shows offered two distinct explorations of performance art made in queer community: The Boy Bands Have Won from Hum’n’bards Theater Troupe, Thomas Choinacky’s Forehand Down the Line. Josh Herren reviews.
Josh Herren

Josh Herren

Reviews 3 minute read
At a long table with text projected onto it, 7 actors of different ages, races, and genders sit in variously zany attitudes

Philly Fringe 2024: Elevator Repair Service presents James Joyce’s Ulysses (second review)

Making theatrical sense of Joyce
James Joyce's Ulysses is the novel that everyone (or English majors at least) has to read, but few finish. In this year's Fringe, Elevator Repair Service tackles the elusive text. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
Khateri sits in a chair and looks down as she plays a Persian Qeychack, a bowed lute with a short fretless neck

Philly Fringe 2024: Deniz Khateri presents A Bach’eh who wanted to become Bach

A mother’s musical journey
Deniz Khateri's Cannonball Festival entry is a one-woman show that explores identity, pregnancy, war, and immigration. Lowry Yankwich reviews.
Lowry Yankwich

Lowry Yankwich

Reviews 3 minute read
Falango, with short platinum blonde hair, wears a priest's black garb. Del Guzzo, next to him, wears a plaid button down.

Philly Fringe 2024: Must See Theatre Company presents davidbdale’s Dirty Priest

Irony and accountability
The world premiere of Dirty Priest, presented in a church as part of the Philly Fringe, reunites an allegedly abusive priest with a survivor who has grown up and returned to confront him. David Block reviews.
David Block

David Block

Reviews 2 minute read
6 actors with exuberant expressions sit behind a long table onstage while many pages swirl through the air above them.

Philly Fringe 2024: Elevator Repair Service presents James Joyce’s Ulysses (first review)

An abridged Ulysses covers all the bases
Elevator Repair Service’s Curated Fringe Festival staging of Ulysses is an exuberant romp through James Joyce’s iconic novel. Kimberly Haas reviews.

Kimberly Haas

Reviews 2 minute read
Galligan, seated with a microphone, wears white face paint and a fluffy cotton costume. A woman hands him more cotton.

Philly Fringe 2024: Michael Galligan presents Cloud Baby

An airy clown
Michael Galligan brings Cloud Baby to the Philly Fringe, an amusing one-man clown show that seems more a sketch than a finished piece. Kiran Pandey reviews.
Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey

Reviews 3 minute read
The couple stands solemnly facing forward, wearing black, hands joined in front of a Victorian wedding dress on a mannequin.

Philly Fringe 2024: Real Life Brothers presents Is This A Wedding?

Nuanced nuptials
Some weddings are covered in newspaper marriage announcements. Alison Hyde Pascale and Crys Clemente got theirs covered at the 2024 Philly Fringe. Emily Esten reviews.
Emily Esten

Emily Esten

Reviews 3 minute read
A person leaps to dunk a basketball in an outdoor court, a horse looking towards them on the right

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, September 5-11, 2024

Moon Gazing, Brotherly Lens, WE ARE ALL DOING TIME, and more
While Fringe is in full swing, there are still plenty of other non-Fringe things to do this week. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
A person centered, dressed in white, holds their hands up to their ears in disgust, others are around her doing the same

The BSR Classical Interludes, September 2024

Mendelssohn Chorus, music at Fringe, and affordable opera
Gail Obenreder rounds up the classical music scene in the Philadelphia area for September.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Previews 4 minute read
Two Black trapeze artists in mid swing from rope, heads tilted back, arms out, legs in motion, both wearing leather bondage

The new Black Circus Week leaps into Cannonball

A first for the BIPOC circus community in Philly
A full week of shows, workshops, family-friendly cabarets and more arrive with Black Circus Week at Cannonball. An Nichols previews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Previews 2 minute read