The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, July 17-23, 2025
A Bottom’s Dream, 2nd Place Race, and I THINK NOT
Shakespeare in Clark Park premieres a bold, queer take on Midsummer, the 2nd Place Race is back, and two nights with your inner monologue. Kyle V. Hiller rounds up the week.
Previews
4 minute read
BalletX presents its 2025 Summer Series, featuring choreographers Amy Hall Garner, Noelle Kayser, and Matthew Neenan
A preview, a premiere, and a revival
For this year’s summer series, BalletX presents an exciting excerpt from Amy Hall Garner’s upcoming Petrushka, a premiere by choreographic fellow Noelle Kayser, and a celebration of Matthew Neenan’s Last Glass. Camille Bacon-Smith reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
The Barnes Foundation presents From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes
Putting French artists in their place
With several Barnes galleries closed for refinishing, some of the museum’s 19th and 20th-century masterpieces get a new configuration in From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.
Reviews
5 minute read
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.
Previews
3 minute read
Indecorous Theatre presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Schuylkill Center
Into the forest
Philly’s Indecorous Theatre takes audiences into the woods for an interactive production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that celebrates the show’s gender-bending, class-swapping, fairy-meddling magic. Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
The Clay Studio presents resident artists Akiko Jackson, Minah Kim and Kevin Snipes
Three enigmatic solo shows explore empathy
Artists Akiko Jackson, Minah Kim, and Kevin Snipes wrap up their three-year residency at the Clay Studio Center for Innovation in Ceramic Art with this trio of enigmatic and arresting solo shows. K.A. McFadden reviews.
Reviews
4 minute read
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.
Essays
4 minute read
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.
Previews
4 minute read
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.
Reviews
3 minute read
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.
Reviews
3 minute read
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.
Features
6 minute read
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.
Editorials
6 minute read
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.
Essays
6 minute read
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Also on BSR
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.
Previews
2 minute read
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.
Previews
4 minute read
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.
Reviews
4 minute read
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.
Profiles
6 minute read
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.
Previews
3 minute read
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.
Essays
5 minute read
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.
Features
6 minute read
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.
Essays
4 minute read
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.
Essays
5 minute read
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.
Essays
5 minute read