BSR writer Cara Blouin's gut reaction provided independent, honest feedback.

Cara Blouin

Contributor

BSR Contributor Since September 27, 2016

Cara Blouin is the Art Pastor at the the Art Church of West Philadelphia. She is also a freelance director and new-play dramaturg whose original plays Pink Punch and Sorry, Broken Piano premiered this year. She is best known in Philadelphia for producing Dan Rottenberg Is Thinking about Raping You and the Republican Theater Festival. Cara is the facilitator of the Souls of Black Folk series for new plays at the Painted Bride Art Center and has served as a teaching artist at Drexel University and the Community College of Philadelphia. She was the founder of the New York-based Stone Soup Theater Arts and the Universal Culture School in Hunan, China, which teaches English to Chinese teenagers using an arts curriculum.

Cara Blouin is the Art Pastor at the the Art Church of West Philadelphia. She is also a freelance director and new-play dramaturg whose original plays Pink Punch and Sorry, Broken Piano premiered this year. She is best known in Philadelphia for producing Dan Rottenberg Is Thinking about Raping You and The Republican Theater Festival. Other Philadelphia credits include Josh Hitchens’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Curio Theatre Company) and the world premiere of Joy Cutler’s Pardon My Invasion. She also directed Afterlife and Glossolalia, both finalists in the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Theater Festival (NYC). Cara is the facilitator of the Souls of Black Folk series for new plays at the Painted Bride Art Center, and has served as a teaching artist at Drexel University and the Community College of Philadelphia. She was the founder of the New York-based Stone Soup Theater Arts, and the Universal Culture School in Hunan, China, which teaches English to Chinese teenagers using an arts curriculum.

By this Author

31 results
Page 1
None of us is all one thing. The same holds true in our choice of career/s. (Illustration by Hannah Kaplan for BSR.)

Be the "actor-and" you want to see in the world

Donning — and doffing — the artist's hat

It takes a village to support a career artist, but there's no shame in building a village of your own the best way you can. Cara Blouin considers.
Cara Blouin Illustration by Hannah Kaplan

Cara Blouinand Illustration by Hannah Kaplan

Articles 3 minute read
L to r: Kirsten Quinn's Lily and Katie Stahl's Emer put up a fight, but this production ultimately has no stakes. (Photo by Dawn Brooks.)

Philly Fringe 2018: Irish Heritage Theatre's 'Lay Me Down Softly' (second review)

Boxed into a corner

Irish Heritage Theatre's Fringe Fest entry, Billy Roche's 'Lay Me Down Softly' features solid performances but ultimately loses the fight. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 2 minute read
Gable's game unfolds against a Philadelphia backdrop. (Screenshot of 'Watch Me Jump.')

'Watch Me Jump,' by Jeremy Gable: Theater as video game

8-bit drama

Jeremy Gable's 'Watch Me Jump' world-premieres his own play in video-game format. Cara Blouin considers.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 3 minute read
Pax Ressler's Viola and Angela Bey's Duke Orsino. Ressler projects plot and feeling to the park's edges. (Photo by Hannah van Sciver.)

Shakespeare in Clark Park presents 'Twelfth Night'

Starry night

A summer tradition continues with Shakespeare in Clark Park's production of 'Twelfth Night.' Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 3 minute read
Mitch and Morrie: So close and yet so far. (Photo courtesy of Act II Playhouse.)

Act II Playhouse presents Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom's 'Tuesdays with Morrie'

Man-date with Morrie

The stage adaptation of Mitch Albom's bestselling memoir 'Tuesdays with Morrie' keeps its characters at arm's length. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 4 minute read
The residents, clockwise from top: Stephanie N. Walters, Rupal Pujara, Pratima Agrawal, and Claris Park. Agrawal didn't appear here but will present her work at the 2018 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. (Photo courtesy of PAPA.)

PAPA Mini-Residency Showcase, with Claris Park, Rupal Pujara, Stephanie N. Walter

Maximum meaning at Mini-Residency

Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists presents its Mini-Residency Showcase, featuring works in progress from three emerging artists. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 3 minute read
Burgio sets the piece around the fraught family's dining-room table. (Photo by Daniel Kontz.)

Almanac Dance Circus Theatre presents Nicole Burgio's 'xoxo moongirl'

Family in the balance

'xoxo moongirl' combines aerial work with narrative and dance to tell the autobiographical story of a family in crisis. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 3 minute read
In 1968, "it was never this bad, it was always this bad." (Photo courtesy of Applied Mechanics.)

Applied Mechanics presents 'This Is on Record'

The times, they aren't a-changin'

Applied Mechanics' 'This Is on Record' takes a 50-year look back at our political arena and finds remarkable continuities. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 3 minute read
Romero and Rooker's costumes allow Eppchez ! to operate and be a puppet, simultaneously. (Photo by Freedom G Photography.)

SoLow Fest 2018: Alma's Engine presents Eppchez !'s 'Publik Private'

A tale of two identities

Alma's Engine brings Eppchez!'s 'Publik Private' to SoLow Fest and examines the four faces of two historic people. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 3 minute read
Die Cast's interactive performance occurs at Ulana's, a rarely used Queen Village nightclub. (Photo courtesy of Die Cast.)

SoLow Fest 2018: Die Cast presents 'Pre-Phyre'

Sheltering in place

Die Cast's interactive SoLow entry 'Pre-Phyre' brings together an apocalyptic event and fascinating characters. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 4 minute read
PAC's performances are strong but its lighting muddies the stage. (Photo by Ashley Labonde, Wide Eyed Studios ©2018.)

PAC presents 'Maria Marten, or, The Murder in the Red Barn' (second review)

Putting the drama in melodrama

Philadelphia Artists' Collective brings serious acting to a very silly play based on a 19th-century true-crime tale. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 3 minute read
Blouin believes Braden Chapman crosses a line as Hedwig. (Photo by Garrett Matthews.)

reTHEATER presents John Cameron Mitchell's 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'

Kind of a drag

Braden Chapman (a.k.a. Mimi Imfurst) of 'RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars' heads reTHEATER's 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch,' but critic Cara Blouin had a hard time enjoying the show. CW: this essay describes sexual acts that were assumed to be non-consensual.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 5 minute read
Three actors — L to R: Mosley, Johnson, and Amill — play the central character in 'Red Bike.' (Photo courtesy of Simpatico Theatre.)

Simpatico Theatre presents Caridad Svich's 'Red Bike'

A wild ride

Simpatico Theatre's production of Caridad Svich's 'Red Bike' serves the playwright better than its script does. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 2 minute read
A 'Tape Riot' performer in Seoul, South Korea, interacts with the urban environment. (Photo by Anna Anderegg.)

PIFA 2018: Asphalt Piloten's 'Tape Riot'

Meditations on the city

'Tape Riot,' by Swiss choreographer Anna Anderegg and Asphalt Piloten, takes viewers and performers on an interactive tour of Center City. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 4 minute read
Barcode walks a fine line between narrative and circus. (Photo courtesy of FringeArts.)

FringeArts presents Barcode Circus Company's 'Sweat and Ink'

Circus of tomorrow

Barcode Circus Company's 'Sweat and Ink' brings exciting feats to the stage along with an interesting story, but sometimes those lines blur in unfortunate ways. Cara Blouin reviews.
Cara Blouin

Cara Blouin

Articles 4 minute read