Reviews

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A soft-focus painting looks like a rounded four-tier layer cake of golden sparks, with orange wheels spinning at front

The Science History Institute presents Flash! Bang! Boom! A History of Fireworks

Sparking independence
Celebrate the summer of the semiquincentennial as John Adams intended, with Flash! Bang! Boom!, a new exhibition all about the history, science, and art of fireworks. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 6 minute read
Diorio, a tall Black drag queen in a gold 18th-century gown, snaps flamboyantly in sync with dozens of singers around her.

ArtPhilly’s What Now Festival presents Andrea Clearfield and Cookie Diorio’s Long Live the Queen: A Herstory of Drag

“The light of limitless love is a possibility”
The inaugural Art Philly: What Now Festival brought composer Andrea Clearfield and multidisciplinary drag artist Cookie Diorio together for an exciting, genre-defying new work. Krista Mar reviews.
Krista Mar

Krista Mar

Reviews 4 minute read
Bright, impressionistic cityscape with a lofty view of a crowded 1917 street hung with giant US, French, and British flags.

PAFA and the PMA present A Nation of Artists

Creativity and the American dream
A Nation of Artists, a major new dual exhibition celebrating the Semiquincentennial, is on view at the PMA and PAFA through next summer. It asks whether creativity is inextricably tied to our freedom. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 6 minute read
The three actors crouch worriedly behind a table with fantastical, neon-lit science gadgets.

Pig Iron Theatre Company presents Dan Rothenberg and Robert Quillen Camp’s Franklin’s Key

A spectacular romp for families celebrating 250
After a successful premiere last year, Pig Iron revives Franklin’s Key, a fantastical, Philly-centric, family-friendly stage adventure about a pair of teens on a quest for Ben Franklin’s biggest secret. Walt Maguire reviews.

Walt Maguire

Reviews 3 minute read
Three white actors in their 20s in casual clothes lean or sit on a dresser close together, looking portentously at the viewer

Playhouse West Philadelphia presents Stephen Belber’s Tape

A 1990s drama holds up in the post-truth era
Playhouse West Philadelphia, an acting school that stages plays and other events, offers a darkly funny production of the 1996 play Tape, with hazardous morals that resonate in our current era. C.M. Crockford reviews.
C.M. Crockford

C.M. Crockford

Reviews 4 minute read
Abstract lithograph layers blue, purple & yellow with shapes like plains, plants, wind & wolves, and the word "un-erasing"

The Print Center presents America Today: Voices in Contemporary Print

Press on
Artists from across the country representing six historic print shops converge at the Print Center, exploring America’s past, present, and future in a reflection of where our nation stands after 250 years. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
Greer & Childs, in matching gold & blue-checked satin outfits, sing together as Greer plays a ukelele.

People’s Light presents Jennifer Childs and Scott Greer’s Two Outta Three

Exploring the constant evolution of artists and parents
At People’s Light, long-married actors Jennifer Childs and Scott Greer consider what it means to become empty nesters in their new original show, Two Outta Three. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 3 minute read
Murphy holds a 19th-century lantern while Rayne, in a long gray cape, touches her shoulder. They look outward anxiously.

Theatre Exile presents Nia Akilah Robinson’s The Great Privation (How to Flip Ten Cents into a Dollar)

A surreal and soulful look at Philly, 200 years ago and today
At Theatre Exile, The Great Privation (How to Flip Ten Cents into a Dollar) toggles between Philadelphia’s problematic past and imperfect present. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 3 minute read
Large gallery with gray cement floor features many distinctive, colorful WPA-era posters on a dark blue wall at left.

Delaware Art Museum presents Citizen Artist

Exploring the US government’s historic 20th-century arts investments
A notable new exhibition at Delaware Art Museum explores two eras of major government investment in the arts: the New Deal and the lesser-known Nixon-era Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 5 minute read
Charéce-Hall and Cynda Purnell, two Black women, sit together on a taupe couch on a black stage, talking seriously.

ArtPhilly What Now Festival: Theatre in the X presents Carlo Campbell’s Acknowledge Me

A community on the Semiquincentennial
A new play by Philly artist Carlo Campbell at Theatre in the X helps to kick off the inaugural ArtPhilly What Now Festival, but it needs more work to create a dramatic whole from community voices. Krista Mar reviews.
Krista Mar

Krista Mar

Reviews 3 minute read