Reviews

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Bowers, a Black woman in a colorful sweater & eyepatch looks away as Gliko and Bellow argue behind her on a bare stage

The Wilma Theater and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company present Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s The Comeuppance

The reunion from hell

The Comeuppance at the Wilma considers every weighty topic under the sun as a quintet of unhappy Millennials gather for their 20th high-school reunion, but too often the stakes feel frustratingly low. Cameron Kelsall reviews.
Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall

Reviews 3 minute read
Four people on stage in casual wear stand together, looking at a white sheet of paper that looks like a bill

Theatre Ariel presents Maya Arad Yasur’s Amsterdam

Layered narratives

The first mainstage production in over a decade for Theatre Ariel fronts a historic bill with contemporary perspective. Josh Herren reviews.
Josh Herren

Josh Herren

Reviews 2 minute read
Gallery view with large fanciful portrait of 2 Black people on a peach field, one holding a chicken, the other a white flower

The African American Museum in Philadelphia presents Shared Vision: Portraits from the CCH Pounder-Koné Collection

Honoring Black women who look up and out

In an exhibition curated exclusively for AAMP, arts patron and prolific actor CCH Pounder opens up her significant and uplifting portrait collection for Philly audiences. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
Various Esherick works, including sculpture, furniture, and prints, in a bright white-walled gallery with wooden floor.

Brandywine Museum of Art presents The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick

A rare gallery glimpse of iconic woodworks

Wood comes alive in The Crafted World of Wharton Esherick, now on view at the Brandywine Museum of Art. It’s a rare chance to see the interdisciplinary artist’s full oeuvre outside his historic home. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 5 minute read
Brown, wearing black under a dramatic gold and purple Renaissance-style jacket, jubilantly spreads his arms.

Lantern Theater Company presents Keith Hamilton Cobb’s American Moor

A fresh take on Othello and the racial politics of American theater

Keith Hamilton Cobb’s American Moor, which follows a Black actor reluctantly auditioning for an Othello helmed by a white director, gets its Philly premiere at the Lantern. An Nichols reviews.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Reviews 4 minute read
Close-up on a large triptych work combining red text & imagery reminding us of the composer Handel’s links to slavery

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists presents Thesentür/The Thinker: Nina Simone and the Politics of Music

Lines of inquiry

A new solo exhibition by Philly conceptual artist and writer Theodore A. Harris, inspired by Nina Simone’s history with the Curtis Institute, questions the ways that art, artists, patrons, and money are bound together. Emily B. Schilling reviews.
Emily Schilling

Emily Schilling

Reviews 4 minute read
Several dancers stand behind Forcella, bowed at the waist, and all you can see are their arms spreading like a peacock tail

BalletX presents it 2024 Fall Series with Marguerite Donlon, Matthew Neenan, and Takehiro Ueyama

A Fall Series for the future

BalletX kicks off its 19th season with more dancers, a new venue, and works by Marguerite Donlon, Matthew Neenan, and Takehiro Ueyama. The works showcase the quality and range of the company but lack programmatic cohesion. Melissa Strong reviews.
Melissa Strong

Melissa Strong

Reviews 4 minute read
At center, Matarrese, in a tux, bends to kiss Heflin’s outstretched hand. She wears a black ball gown and looks worried.

Resident Ensemble Players presents Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing

Choppy seas for a rare farce

Resident Ensemble Players at the University of Delaware takes on Tom Stoppard’s rarely produced Rough Crossing, but it’s choppy seas, despite a cast that is well-known for excellent farce. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Gail Obenreder

Gail Obenreder

Reviews 4 minute read
Crisp, richly saturated black & white photo of Ray looking in a mirror, holding a chess piece that casts dramatic shadows

TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image presents Wherever There Is Light

Stunning photographs by formerly incarcerated men of color

Wherever There Is Light, a new exhibition combining portraits, landscape, and collage, starts a new conversation about imprisonment, identity, and justice with cameras in the hands of formerly incarcerated people. Anndee Hochman reviews.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Reviews 5 minute read
Bright oil painting of two older Black people smiling and comfortably holding hands on a bench on a chilly, sunny day.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure

A historic, absorbing exhibition

A new PMA exhibition curated by Ekow Eshun gathers 28 contemporary artists from across the Black and African diaspora in the US and UK, exploring Blackness as lived experience rather than social construct. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read