An Nicholson

An Nichols

Contributor

BSR Contributor Since December 31, 1969

An Nichols (she/her pronouns) is a full-time programmer and part-time freelancer. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in English, her academic background surrounds representations of Blacks and women in both Western literature and popular culture. She has previously written for Ithaca Times, StarPulse.com and CliqueClack.com.

An Nichols (she/her pronouns) is a full-time programmer and part-time freelancer. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in English, her academic background surrounds representations of Blacks and women in both Western literature and popular culture. She has previously written for Ithaca Times, StarPulse.com and CliqueClack.com.

By this Author

31 results
Page 1
Protest co-organizer Garrick Morgan speaks to the crowd outside the Walnut on June 18. (Photo by Matthew Wright.)

Protect the Artist protestors make their demands outside the Walnut Street Theatre

Philly artists march to “crack the Nut”
On June 18, the activists of a newly formed Philly coalition, Protect the Artist, took their message to the streets with a protest outside the Walnut Street Theatre. An Nichols and Alaina Johns were there.
An Nichols Alaina Johns

An Nicholsand Alaina Johns

Features 6 minute read
Before Penn, Villanova, and Cornell: An Nichols at summer camp. (Image courtesy of the author.)

Racism is a lifetime of tiny cuts. They won’t stop unless we all speak up.

“The Good Black”
The George Floyd protests helped An Nichols to reflect on her past in a white-dominated culture.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Essays 4 minute read
'Brown-Eyed Rapunzel' explores bi-raciality through Grimm fairytales. (Photo by Jeffrey Bergeland)
A summer protest city street scene, with a large crowd walking with its back to the camera, holding signs aloft.

A look back: why the Philly theater scene needs the Black Lives Matter movement

Local artists speak
Writer An Nichols followed the recent national social justice explosion that rocked the Philly theater community, but she wanted to look closer, speaking with local artists about their experiences leading up to the current moment.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Features 7 minute read
Marable as Thurgood, in a blue suit & glasses, leans on a large table, the words Brown v Board of Education projected behind

People’s Light presents George Stevens Jr.’s Thurgood

Equal justice under the law
People’s Light stages this informative and engaging one-man drama about lawyer Thurgood Marshall, who became the first Black justice on the US Supreme Court. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 2 minute read
View of cathedral performance: dark pews full of people and a vibrant purple projection of light filling the chancel's arches

Lyric Fest presents Cotton

Recreation and catharsis
Cotton, an immersive multimedia experience recreating generational trauma, marks Lyric Fest’s 20th anniversary, with new music by Damien Geter and a slate of poets inspired by the photography of John Dowell. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 2 minute read
In beautiful church clothes, the characters (all Black except for one white man) sit on pews with different avid expressions.

Bristol Riverside Theatre presents Douglas Lyons’s Chicken & Biscuits

Nothing new at the family funeral
Chicken & Biscuits at Bristol Riverside Theatre gathers common tropes of the family funeral genre, but its performances and design meld comedy and drama for a fun family night. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 3 minute read
On a realistic set of a street in Washington Heights, with a bridge behind, 21 cast members pose singing around the stage

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival presents Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights

A beautiful day in Little Dominican Republic
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s In the Heights relies on the life of a neighborhood for its drama, and a smooth, sparkling production from Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival delivers. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
A group of four Black cosplayers in costume poses emphatically, joyfully, in a bright indoor space

Five reasons to attend the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention

For the geek at heart
An Nichols previews the 2023 East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention and how it works towards cultural awareness, youth literacy, and building safe spaces for geekdom.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Previews 3 minute read
Davis, with short, gingery hair & beard, wearing a white tee, holds a wooden nutcracker doll and has a thoughtful expression.

Chris Davis presents One-Man Nutcracker

A magical reimagining, back for 2023
Chris Davis has been bringing his fresh and
funny one-man take on The Nutcracker to Philly theaters since 2019. This year, the still-delightful show lands at the Drake. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 2 minute read
In front of a black & white backdrop of cheering fans, the 5 singers pose in dark blue velour jackets with black lapels.

The Kimmel Cultural Campus and the Shubert Organization present Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations

A jukebox musical worthy of a standing ovation

Ain’t Too Proud, on its first national tour and getting its Philly premiere, follows the lives, loves, and moves of the Motown-hitmaking supergroup the Temptations, but questions about gender representation linger. An Nichols reviews.

An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 6 minute read
In a worn but tidy 1950s apartment, Floyd & Anderson visit on couches. Fleurisma listens in the background, arms crossed

Bristol Riverside Theatre presents Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

Doing justice to Black Shakespeare
A new production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun at Bristol Riverside Theatre honors this monumental American text while highlighting relevant struggles today. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 5 minute read
In a messy room with fiberglass insulation and graffiti showing, the characters argue center stage. Cochran holds a gun.

Passage Theatre Presents Richard Bradford and Anthony Martinez-Briggs’s Ghetto Gods in Divineland

A mixed-media world premiere in Trenton
Ghetto Gods in Divineland, now getting its world premiere in Trenton, has successful interdisciplinary elements of music, poetry, and dance, but the script doesn’t follow through on its ambitious concepts. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
Two singers. Dressed in all black, singing on stage towards the audience.

Marian Anderson Museum presents Porgy and Bess

Preserving a legendary Philadelphia institute
The Marian Anderson Historical Society will host a performance of Porgy and Bess and looks to continue the museum’s challenging reconstruction project. An Nichols previews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Previews 2 minute read
Colorful view with hundreds of tulips, clouds of hanging purple flowers, reflecting water & a trees full of pink blossoms.

PHS presents the 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show: United By Flowers

Your guide to attending the Flower Show on a budget, and supporting Philly gardens year-round
The Flower Show is here through Sunday, March 10! An Nichols has your guide to entry on a budget, plus suggestions for connecting with Philly gardens year-round, and Alaina Johns has a look at this year’s show.
An Nichols Alaina Johns

An Nicholsand Alaina Johns

Features 6 minute read