Broad Street Review

Philly's home for arts, culture, and conversation

Krista Mar

BSR Contributor Since September 20, 2022

Krista Mar (she/her pronouns) is an activist, data scientist, and accidental theater critic. She is an inaugural member of Theatre Philadelphia’s Content + Criticism Cohort.

Krista Mar is an activist, data scientist, and accidental theater critic. She is passionate about spreading the word about theater by BIPOC playwrights and decolonizing theater critique. She holds a bachelor of arts from Barnard College and a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. You can find her posting shows she’s excited about and informal theater reviews on her Instagram at @krista.reveiws.

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Page 1

Armstead appears in 3 juxtaposed forms: delighted kid, surly teen, and grownup with a knowing smile, wearing a black dress.

Philly Fringe 2022: Matthew Armstead presents Song Bridge

A singer’s healing gift

This tender, interdisciplinary Cannonball Festival performance from Matthew Armstead explores the hopeful acts of healing from trauma, homophobia, and racism. Krista Mar reviews.

Sep 20, 2022 Reviews 2 minute read

Scene from the play: Johnson and Nwoko, Black women, smile warily at each other from across a small living room.

Azuka Theatre presents Inda Craig-Galván’s A Hit Dog Will Holler

Activist opposites

The Philly premiere of A Hit Dog Will Holler, onstage at Azuka, contrasts the online and IRL realms of today’s social activists with a special lens on Black women in these spaces. Krista Mar reviews.

Nov 08, 2022 Reviews 3 minute read

Malone, a young Black man, smiles broadly. He wears a faded pink ensemble. Other cast members are behind him in the barn.

Arden Theatre Company presents E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web

Back in the barn

The Arden restages its popular adaptation of E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web with a new cast sure to delight audiences of all ages. Krista Mar reviews.

Dec 19, 2022 Reviews 3 minute read

The four actors on a turquoise sofa by a yellow table, each gesturing & focusing uniquely; hands to face or reaching out.

Wilma Theater presents Guillermo Calderón’s Kiss

Bold, original, complex, and contemporary

A Western take on a Syrian soap opera gets a surprising twist in Guillermo Calderón’s Kiss, by turns hilarious and wrenching. Krista Mar reviews.

Feb 06, 2023 Reviews 3 minute read

Castro and Canales dance gleefully with arms outstretched, on a red & blue lit stage with leafy trees looming in the dark.

Azuka Theatre and Teatro del Sol present AZ Espinoza’s All My Mothers Dream in Spanish

A bilingual feast

Azuka teams with Teatro del Sol for the world premiere of AZ Espinoza’s All My Mothers Dream in Spanish, a magical exploration of ancestry and healing that’s also very much of the moment. Krista Mar reviews.

Mar 06, 2023 Reviews 4 minute read

Wallace, smiling with hands on hips, in board shorts & a Detroit football jersey, confronts Foy-Coles, in glasses & plaid.

InterAct Theatre Company presents Francisca da Silveira’s pay no worship

At home in the Atlantic

InterAct presents the world premiere of pay no worship, a play about very different cousins on a small Cape Verde island who grapple with the effects of climate change, despite too often being left out of the global conversation. Krista Mar reviews.

Apr 11, 2023 Reviews 3 minute read

Charéce & Johnson, wearing neutral jumpsuits & turbans, look at each other, concerned, sitting in a warm sandy landscape.

Theatre Horizon presents Charly Evon Simpson’s sandblasted

The truth about Black women’s lives

In the regional premiere of sandblasted at Theatre Horizon, Black women in a desert landscape are trying to survive in a world that is literally making their bodies fall apart. Krista Mar reviews.

May 15, 2023 Reviews 3 minute read

Jain, a Filipino man, dressed in a blazer and gray beard and hair wig, hands out expressive in front of a podium

Philly Fringe 2023: Justin Jain presents The Dangers of Tobacco

A queer Filipino retelling of Chekhov’s one-act play

Justin Jain puts his own spin on Anton Chekhov’s The Dangers of Tobacco in this year’s Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Krista Mar reviews.

Sep 06, 2023 Reviews 3 minute read

Ahmed, with long dark hair and a white t-shirt, lifts a large cardboard box amid washes of green and purple light.

Philly Fringe 2023: Joseph Ahmed presents Half Magic

A masterpiece of mixed-medium storytelling

Solo performer Joseph Ahmed teams up with director Cat Ramirez for Half Magic, a Cannonball Festival show on grief and mixed-race identity through theater, circus, and storytelling. Krista Mar reviews.

Sep 15, 2023 Reviews 3 minute read

In a dressing room, Shetty grins excitedly and clutches a red fabric costume to her chest. She wears a black satin jacket

Azuka Theatre presents Priyanka Shetty’s The Elephant in the Room

A story as unique as the immigrant experience

Priyanka Shetty’s The Elephant in the Room, a solo autobiographical show about an Indian software engineer turned theater artist,
is proving the creator’s performance chops in its Philly debut at Azuka Theatre. Krista Mar reviews.

Nov 07, 2023 Reviews 2 minute read

Robinson poses dramatically at center in a plaid dress; Hall & Debose, seen from behind with their hair in buns, look on.

The Lantern Theater presents Lynn Nottage’s Crumbs from the Table of Joy

Feasting on Crumbs

Crumbs from the Table of Joy, a lesser-known early work by Lynn Nottage, one of America’s most popular playwrights, still feels relevant in this Lantern Theater production. Krista Mar reviews.

Nov 20, 2023 Reviews 3 minute read

Three Black women in modest bathing suits & sarongs dance together in a living room, washed with blue light.

People’s Light presents Christina Anderson’s the ripple, the wave that carried me home

A deep dive into the fight for desegregation

Christina Anderson’s the ripple, the wave that carried me home, which explores a family on the front lines of desegregation in Kansas, gets its regional premiere at People’s Light. Krista Mar reviews.

Feb 27, 2024 Reviews 3 minute read

10 Asian people of different ages & genders sit around a square of couches, all holding scripts in a large living room.

Philly’s AAPI playwrights are ready for the stage with PWYC readings in May and June

Meet Philly’s first dedicated cohort of AAPI playwrights

None of Philly’s regional theaters have ever staged a full production of a non-solo show by a local AAPI playwright. Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists's new playwriting cohort wants to change that. Krista Mar visits.

May 06, 2024 Features 6 minute read

Book cover: title over drawing of a rowhouse decorated with a giant snake, frog, bird, and bugs, with an alligator out front

Sink: A Memoir, by Joseph Earl Thomas

A unique look at growing up in Frankford

Philly author Joseph Earl Thomas’s fierce and unusual memoir, Sink, follows his boyhood in 1990s Frankford, where fiction, fantasy, and reality collide. Krista Mar reviews.

Jun 02, 2024 Reviews 3 minute read

Fayle, in hiking clothes, sits rubbing his foot and smiling at Gardner, who sits on a stump looking annoyed and holding a map

InterAct Theatre Company presents C.A. Johnson’s The Climb

Perfect for post-show conversations in Philly

The Climb, the latest world premiere onstage at InterAct, examines the white gaze in feminism, academia, and art, asking questions about power, consent, and commodification. Krista Mar reviews.

Jun 11, 2024 Reviews 3 minute read

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