Two people squat by chalk writing on asphalt that says 'Juneteenth' 'Barnes on the Block.'

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, July 10-16, 2025

Summer exhibitions, Blobfest, Thin Walls, and more

New exhibitions from Al-Bustan, James Oliver, and William Way, Bodies of Water at Fairmount Park, and the sounds of North Philadelphia at Vox. Kyle V. Hiller previews.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 4 minute read
Webinars newsletter header

Our popular review-writing webinars are back on July 16 and 17!

These Zoom sessions are for anyone who wants to understand the professional critic's process.

Are you an aspiring or emerging critic? Are you a journalist who is curious about getting started as a reviewer? Are you an arts-lover who wants an inside look at how critics work? These classes are for you.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Previews 2 minute read
Rectangular collage of the covers of the 10 books in this article, done in a variety of colorful illustrations.

Discover the best new books for young readers with Philly author Eric Smith

Stock your shelf with these great kid-lit reads just in time for the new school year

Award-winning local author Eric Smith, whose latest YA novel will be featured at the National Book Festival of the Library of Congress later this summer, rounds up his favorite new books for young readers, all by Philly-area writers.
Eric Smith

Eric Smith

Essays 4 minute read
Stillman in formal dress plays the flute on stage.

BSR Classical Interludes, July and August 2025

Lenape Chamber Ensemble concerts, PhilOrchestra at the Mann, and more

Highlighting summer concerts in the Philadelphia area throughout the summer, including series by Lenape Chamber Ensemble, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Longwood Gardens. Gail Obenreder previews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Previews 4 minute read
Book cover, title in yellow font. A woman in an apron holds a pie cut with a knife with fruit smeared that looks like blood

Jo Piazza’s Everyone Is Lying To You

Piercing the fabricated reality of tradwife influencers

Journalist, writer, and podcaster Jo Piazza uses her research and interviewing skills to bring her works of fiction to life, including new thriller Everyone is Lying To You—where real life can be even weirder than fiction. Elisa Shoenberger previews.
Elisa Shoenberger

Elisa Shoenberger

Previews 3 minute read
A stark rural scene with a square white house, bright cloudy sky, naked trees, and a thin brook reflecting the white sky.

Brandywine Museum of Art presents Andrew Wyeth at Kuerner Farm: The Eye of the Earth

New windows on Wyeth’s world

The Brandywine Museum of Art’s Wyeth Study Center invigorates the storied local artist’s legacy. Andrew Wyeth at Kuerner Farm: The Eye of the Earth features intimate works made over 70 years at a single Chadds Ford farm. Emily B. Schilling reviews.
Emily Schilling

Emily Schilling

Reviews 3 minute read
In 60s or 90s fashion, the cast mugs happily in a line, reaching out to each other. Lieberman holds a purple plant at center.

People’s Light presents Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors

Comedy, the macabre, and capitalism

A new production of Little Shop of Horrors, closing out People’s Light’s 50th anniversary season, gives fearsome new teeth to the adage that there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism. Mina Reinckens reviews.
Mina Reinckens

Mina Reinckens

Reviews 3 minute read
A diverse cast of seven, some seated and some standing and gesticulating wildly, perform on a black stage with music stands

PlayPenn’s 20th anniversary conference takes root in Philly neighborhoods

The 2025 New Play Development Conference goes local

Despite cruel NEA cuts, PlayPenn's 2025 New Play Development Conference opens on Saturday, July 5. Camille Bacon-Smith sits down with conference leaders and resident playwright Lori Felipe-Barkin.
Camille Bacon-Smith

Camille Bacon-Smith

Features 6 minute read
Young Alaina

I feared liberals, and then I became one. But I’m still evolving, and you can, too.

My political journey probably isn’t what you expected.

With partisan politics so toxically entrenched in America, it can be tough to admit that you’re open to change. This Fourth of July, Alaina Johns is thinking about her conservative upbringing.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Editorials 6 minute read
In a dotted dress, Johnson stands with hands on her hips. Wyatt sits on a couch. Fairbanks passes behind carrying a towel.

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival presents Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

Still asking stark questions

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival stages A Raisin in the Sun to powerful effect, even if the production finds itself occasionally out of step. Kiran Pandey reviews.
Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey

Reviews 4 minute read
O’Hare & Maseda sit facing each other, smiling and affectionately joining hands, while Apple watches wistfully upstage.

The Wilma presents Jon Fosse’s A Summer Day, translated by Sarah Cameron Sunde

A day to remember

Spare and devastating, the Wilma Theater’s A Summer Day, available to stream through July 27, gives eloquent expression to the complexity of grief. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 4 minute read
A large American flag flies upside down on a flagpole in the wind, against a cloudy sky.

The Untied States: 249 years later, America’s still not great—but it could be.

This is our country’s first real chance at greatness. Will we take it?

The Trump administration has brought the United States to a crisis—but only because it revealed what has been there all along. Lindsay Gary asks if we have the courage to respond by making America great for the first time ever.
Lindsay Gary

Lindsay Gary

Essays 5 minute read
Close-up on a gavel made of polished dark wood with a gold band, on top of an American flag.

In America today, joining the jury isn’t just a civic duty. It’s an ethical one.

American justice relies on jurors more than ever

After serving on a jury earlier this year, An Nichols was surprised by her relationship to her fellow jurors, and learned about the outsize impact jurors can have at the local and national level.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Essays 4 minute read

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Also on BSR

Sara Mae in a light jacket and black top with white paper floral spirals over their chest. The photo is fuzzy, out of focus

The moment of rupture: a conversation with Phantasmagossip author Sara Mae

What the ghosts say

Philly writer Sara Mae talks about their new poetry chapbook Phantasmagossip, writing songs with The Noisy, and themes of gender expansiveness and past selves. Kiran Pandey profiles.
Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey

Profiles 6 minute read
Fabrics, pigment wash, colors and screenprint create image of a Black woman sitting on a chair against a US flag backdrop

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, July 2-8, 2025

What to do for Independence Weekend

New exhibitions Queridos and Where I’m From take unique looks at “how we got here”, get hands on at the PMA, and talk to spirits with Conversations with Miranda. Kyle V. Hiller previews.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 3 minute read
Pen-and-ink caricature of three smiling girls with flowing hair, heads bobbing in a triangular composition.

In today's America, parenting itself can be an act of patriotism.

Parenting toward what I know our country can be.

As a kid, Jill Ivey loved donning American flag fashion for the Fourth of July. Today, with her own child born between two Trump administrations, she marks the holiday in a different way, as a parent resisting injustice.
Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Essays 5 minute read
View of the grand stone entrance of the NYC Public Library, with a giant Pride flag with “Protect the Freedom to Read” on it.

Books are dangerous. That’s why we need the freedom to read them.

This Fourth of July, I’m reading something radical.

Anndee Hochman grew up reading Judy Blume, unaware of how controversial her books were. Today, after raising her own daughter, she knows what book-ban proponents do not: reading is a fundamental freedom.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Essays 6 minute read
An entrance to Fort Mifflin with a thick brick archway built into the grassy hillside, under a red, white & blue striped flag

Discover Revolutionary history on both sides of the river at Fort Mifflin and Red Bank Battlefield Park

Defending the Delaware

Looking for Revolution-themed summer or fall day trips? Learn about the history of Fort Mifflin, Fort Mercer, and the Pennsylvania State Navy with historic sites spanning the Delaware River. Bart Stump visits.
Bart Stump

Bart Stump

Features 6 minute read
Book cover. Title in white, surrounded by illustrated orange flames, on a turquoise 18th-century engraving of ships at sea.

The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution, by Zara Anishanslin.

The little-known patriots whose art helped spark a Revolution

Some American patriots fought with words or swords, but others aided and abetted the Revolution with their art, both in the Colonies and abroad. They are illuminated in The Painter’s Fire, a new book by Zara Anishanslin. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Essays 4 minute read
Nixon speaks into a megaphone in the center of a large crowd of people with slickers and umbrellas in the pouring rain.

This Fourth of July, we need a narrative revolution.

Writers and artists lead America’s nonviolent fight for justice.

The Trump administration is trying to rewrite reality and history. Cass Lewis says we’re not going to let them, if writers and artists have anything to say about it.
Cass Lewis

Cass Lewis

Essays 5 minute read
Three musicians with big hair and hold guitars and look into camera, all with straight faced with puckered lips

The BSR July 2025 repertory movie roundup

Spinal Tap, Con Air, Blobfest and four Hitchcock seminars

Summer movie screenings are happening in the Philly area this month, including This Is Spinal Tap, Con Air, and a litany of Hitchcock seminars. Stephen Silver previews.
Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver

Previews 4 minute read
Three people stand next to each other facing camera holding house plants against a dark backdrop

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, June 26-July 1, 2025

The Mini Art Show, Kyle Ayers: Hard to Say, Under the El Bazaar, and more

Previewing an exhibition that celebrates small-scale creativity, a performance that looks to laugh at a rare disorder, and a bazaar under the El in Fishtown. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.
Kyle V. Hiller

Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 5 minute read
Book cover. Duet For One in red caps by an illustrated grand piano that is open, in red in white.

Martha Anne Toll revisits her early violist days in Duet for One

A book retracing hometown memories

Duet For One by Martha Anne Toll tells a personal Philadelphia music story. Margaret Hutton profiles.
Margaret Hutton

Margaret Hutton

Profiles 3 minute read