Reviews

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Bailey, a white woman with luxuriant wavy brown hair, poses in a white shirt and black vest.

Philly Fringe 2023: Ella-Gabriel Mason’s Sex Werque and Kaytlin Bailey’s Whore’s Eye View

Learning from the pros

Cannonball Festival presented two solo shows about sex workers: Ella-Gabriel Mason’s Sex Werque: Notes from the Field and Kaytlin Bailey’s Whore’s Eye View. Melissa Strong reviews.
Melissa Strong

Melissa Strong

Reviews 4 minute read
The cast of nine, looking zany with a variety of expressions, props, and costumes, stands in a gesticulating group onstage

Delaware Theatre Company presents Michael Frayn’s Noises Off

A favorite piece of chaos

Delaware Theatre Company opens the season with a bang of eight doors in the ever-popular, ever-challenging backstage farce Noises Off. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 4 minute read
Scene from the play: sitting in adjacent forward-facing chairs, the two women turn their heads to look fondly at each other.

Resident Ensemble Players presents Eileen Atkins’s Vita & Virginia

For the love of letters

Delaware’s Resident Ensemble Players opens its 15th season with Vita & Virginia, a chamber production exploring a historic intellectual and romantic affair in an era of letters. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 4 minute read
7 Girl BSR 9 26 23a

Philly Fringe 2023: Toni Cannon’s ReFlection and Mae West’s $7 Girl

Circus arts looking inward and outward

Cannonball Festival presents two solo shows at the intersection of trans identity and circus arts, Toni Cannon’s ReFlection and Mae West’s $7 Girl. Melissa Strong reviews.
Melissa Strong

Melissa Strong

Reviews 4 minute read
The orchestra atop a circular gray structure about 10 feet tall, with the cast members performing in front of it.

Festival O23: Opera Philadelphia presents Rene Orth and Hannah Moscovitch’s 10 Days in a Madhouse

“I’m mad they say”

Festival O23’s world-premiere production of composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch’s 10 Days in a Madhouse is fresh, urgent, and relevant. Alaina Johns reviews.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Reviews 5 minute read

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Sulayman sings soulfully at center stage. Dolphin dances at left; at right, Ward & Mirzadegan sit facing each other.

Festival O23: Opera Philadelphia presents Karim Sulayman’s Unholy Wars

Reframing the “Middle East”

Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O23 features the Philly premiere of Grammy-winning Lebanese American tenor Karim Sulayman’s Unholy Wars, with artistic triumph in every detail. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 4 minute read
Against a dramatic cloudy sky projection, Kelsey sings atop a small stone stairway, and Van Horn faces outward at right.

Festival O23: Opera Philadelphia presents Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra

Keeping Philly on the map of grand opera

For its Festival O23, Opera Philadelphia presents a standout production of Verdi’s tragic opera, Simon Boccanegra. Linda Holt reviews.
Linda Holt

Linda Holt

Reviews 3 minute read
Close-up on a light-skinned hand holding a cannoli with blue sprinkles covering one end and pink sprinkles covering the other

Philly Fringe 2023: Alex Marcus presents Waiting for Ganol

Behind the scenes of a gender-reveal party

Waiting for Ganol, a Cannonball Festival show that took us into the backyard of a gender-reveal party with mounting problems, allowed us to make our own approach to the thoughtful story. Crystal Sparrow reviews.
Crystal Sparrow

Crystal Sparrow

Reviews 3 minute read
With a severe, animated expression, Ladd speaks and stretches out her arms, wearing a navy jacket and yellow scarf.

Quintessence Theatre Group presents George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara

Overstating the obvious

Directorial bells and whistles impede the socialist message of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara at Quintessence Theatre Group. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 3 minute read
A multi-racial group of about two dozen people posing together in a simple church venue with high wooden rafters.

The Crossing presents Crickets in Our Backyard

Premieres by Wang Lu, Tania León, and Ayanna Woods

The Crossing choir opens its new season with Crickets in Our Backyard, featuring world premieres by Tania León and Ayanna Woods and an “indoor premiere” by Wang Lu. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 5 minute read