
The Weekly Roundup, June 29-July 5
A swathe of cultural experiences for the holiday weekend
Esperanza Arts Center, Quintessence, Three Aksha, Glen Foerd, and more represent a diverse set of communities and cultures this week. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up.

Previews
3 minute read

Why I joined a Pride march with the church I avoided for almost 20 years
Small-town Pride
As an atheist and a divorced woman who supports gender justice, Alaina Johns definitely doesn’t belong in the church that raised her. But when the church’s more inclusive community members planned a Pride protest, she wanted to be there.

Editorials
5 minute read

The Print Center presents A Brand New End: Survival and its Pictures
Women’s (liberation) work
With A Brand New End: Survival and its Pictures, the Print Center takes a deep dive into a visual archive of how domestic abuse survivors and advocates support each other and work for change. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read

The BSR Podcast: RestART with BSR, episode 2, Da Vinci Art Alliance
The arts are back! Learn about the return
BSR is excited to team with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance's RestART Initiative on this special podcast episode about the Da Vinci Art Alliance.

Podcast
1 minute read

Anne-Marie Mulgrew & Dancers Company presents Beautiful Chaos
The possibility of uncertainty
AMM & DCO explores the beauty, hope, and connection that can emerge from chaos in its Home Season Concert Project 35, featuring the premiere of the full-length work Beautiful Chaos. Melissa Strong reviews.

Reviews
6 minute read

Little Rabbit, by Alyssa Songsiridej
Power plays
Intimacy, identity, and class complicate the relationships of the artists at the center of Little Rabbit, a novel by Philadelphia writer Alyssa Songsiridej. Kirsten Bowen reviews.

Reviews
3 minute read

On Independence Day 2022, is our democracy failing? Not if we listen to our children.
We have to grow up. So does our country.
SaraKay Smullens knows a thing or two about adolescence: she’s a social worker, a family therapist, and a mother. Things in the US seem pretty bleak, but she argues that this is our adolescence, and we can still seize a bright future.

Essays
6 minute read

thrum by Jon Chaiim McConnell
A timely take on contemporary crisis
The debut work from the Delaware-based author takes on climate change with interweaving dystopian but contemporary stories. Nick Joseph reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read

Arden Theatre Company presents Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods
An enchanting season finale
The Arden takes another trip Into the Woods, with delightful and poignant results. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read

The Brandywine River Museum of Art presents Dawoud Bey and Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America
Making their presence known
Two exhibitions at the Brandywine River Museum of Art demonstrate bold curatorial vision, with Dawoud Bey: Night Coming Tenderly, Black and Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America. Gail Obenreder reviews.

Reviews
5 minute read

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival presents Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s Every Brilliant Thing
Not a solution, but a start
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s participatory production of Every Brilliant Thing has a message we need, from Center Valley all the way to Capitol Hill. Wendy Rosenfield reviews.

Reviews
3 minute read
Netflix presents Jeremiah Zagar’s Hustle
A shot at the Philly sports movie pantheon
The set of Hustle, the latest from star Adam Sandler, was hard to avoid during its extensive on-location Philly shoots. Now it’s out on Netflix, for fans of Sandler and the Sixers alike. Stephen Silver reviews.

Reviews
5 minute read
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EgoPo Classic Theater presents Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class
Still a giant of the genre
EgoPo Classic Theater finally concludes its survey of Sam Shepard with his brutal, bitingly funny Curse of the Starving Class. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Reviews
3 minute read
InterAct Theatre Company presents Hilary Bettis’s 72 Miles to Go…
Beyond borders
This moving drama follows a Tucson family over the years as they live without their mother, who has been deported to Mexico. Kirsten Bowen reviews.

Reviews
3 minute read

Bryan Koulman Dance presents its Summer 2022 Show
A grand and intimate experience
Bryan Koulman Dance Company marks its return to the stage with several works from its repertory and a world premiere performed by artists from the Philadelphia Ballet and PHILADANCO! Melissa Strong reviews.

Reviews
4 minute read

Tiny Dynamite presents The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged
The Bingster is back
Tiny Dynamite distills six of the English language’s best-loved novels—and then some—into this fun, fleet, and heartfelt tribute to Jane Austen. Alaina Johns reviews.

Reviews
3 minute read

The Weekly Roundup, June 15-22
Celebrating Juneteenth in Philadelphia
Kyle V. Hiller rounds up Juneteenth events in Philadelphia, featuring offerings from Sistahs Laying Down Hands, Uhuru, the MoAR, AAMP, and many more.

Previews
3 minute read

The BSR Podcast: RestART with BSR, episode 1, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture
The arts are back! Learn about the return
BSR is excited to team with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance's RestART Initiative with this special podcast episode on Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture.

Podcast
1 minute read

Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas
Baltimore, Bueller-style
R. Eric Thomas’s debut young-adult novel Kings of B’more is a witty, adventurous nod to Ferris Bueller that hits close to home, but may be hindered by its own genre tropes. Kyle V. Hiller reviews.

Reviews
3 minute read

When home leaves you: a Father’s Day foray into holding on and letting go
Packing up my parents’ house
When Anndee Hochman’s parents moved to the Philly suburbs in 1965, it was a compromise. Almost 60 years later, the house holds a departed father’s heart. It’s time to say goodbye again.
Essays
5 minute read
Quintessence Theatre Group presents Pearl Cleage’s Flyin’ West
Rediscovering Nicodemus
Quintessence’s Reclamation Repertory continues with Pearl Cleage’s Flyin’ West, a deeply relevant play for our ongoing conversations about redlining, gentrification, and reparations. Josh Herren reviews.

Reviews
3 minute read

1812 Productions presents Bi Jean Ngo’s In Search of the Kitchen Gods
A theatrical dish
Philly creator/performer Bi Jean Ngo’s world-premiere of In Search of the Kitchen Gods is an inviting, interdisciplinary exploration of her Vietnamese heritage. Josh Herren reviews.

Reviews
2 minute read