All stories by Arifa Akbar on BroadwayStars

Thursday, February 15, 2024

The Picture of Dorian Gray review – Sarah Snook plays 26 characters in dazzling, dangerous solo show by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal Haymarket, LondonAided by elaborate tech, multiple screens and an angelic wig, the Succession star gives a performance that is mischievous, swaggering and operatic Does Sarah S…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42PM
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Just For One Day review – Live Aid musical has soaring voices and pancake-flat characters by Arifa Akbar

Old Vic, LondonJukebox show celebrating sweary Bob Geldof’s 1985 mega-fundraiser piles homily on cliche in a production in thrall to white saviour stereotypes The breathless tagline invite…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PM
Sunday, February 11, 2024

The Boy at the Back of the Class review – a refugee’s lessons in humanity by Arifa Akbar

Rose theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames Onjali Raùf’s morality tale for children, adapted by Nick Ahad, fluidly harnesses schoolkid energy, though important details are often reported rather t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM
Friday, February 9, 2024

Blue Beard review – Emma Rice’s fairytale hits home with horror and pizzazz by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal BathThis eccentric retelling of the bloody story flamboyantly combines songs and pop culture gags but still shocks Emma Rice’s retelling of this bloody folktale could be desc…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM
Thursday, February 8, 2024

Theatre needs risk-takers like Kwame Kwei-Armah whose Young Vic has been dynamite | Arifa Akbar by Arifa Akbar

The first African Caribbean figure to lead a major British theatre has announced his departure but his bold approach must remain Kwame Kwei-Armah’s decision to step down from the helm of t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Wednesday, February 7, 2024

The Hills of California review – Jez Butterworth’s fractious family of singing sisters by Arifa Akbar

Harold Pinter theatre, LondonThe Jerusalem playwright’s new drama, directed by Sam Mendes, follows four siblings coached as children to become stars and now reunited at their mother’s be…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42PM
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

This Might Not Be It review – NHS office politics through the looking-glass by Arifa Akbar

Bush theatre, LondonPersonalities and generations clash in Sophia Chetin-Leuner’s claustrophobic play about a mental health unit under strain It is clear from the office, strewn with piles…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Friday, February 2, 2024

Rewind review – ingenious portrait of oppression and dissent in Latin America by Arifa Akbar

New Diorama theatre, LondonEphemeral Ensemble use music, movement and puppetry to astonishing effect in a devastating show about the right to protest There are few words in this startling ho…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM
Thursday, February 1, 2024

Till the Stars Come Down review – your invitation to the wedding of the year by Arifa Akbar

Dorfman theatre, LondonBeth Steel’s new drama is dazzlingly performed and full of pain, joy and laughter in a deft production by Bijan Sheibani A wedding day is fertile ground for a family…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM
Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Othello review – Shakespeare’s tragedy interrogated in New Scotland Yard by Arifa Akbar

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonOla Ince’s production is set within a hostile modern police force and has DCI Othello’s unconscious portrayed by a second actor Shakespeare’s military ge…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Fiend review – the spoof’s afoot! by Arifa Akbar

Barn theatre, CirencesterThe detective hunts for Jack the Ripper in a funny, tangled comedy on how crime is sensationalised for entertainment This comedy adventure enlists Sherlock Holmes to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM
Monday, January 29, 2024

Prime movers: the German circus exploring Amazon through acrobatics by Arifa Akbar

Rimini Protokoll’s new show is part of a series of performances inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses and draws a connection between its Aeolus episode and hypercapitalism On the eastern out…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM
Sunday, January 28, 2024

Plaza Suite review – Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are spectacles at the celebrity circus by Arifa Akbar

Savoy theatre, LondonDespite a thrilling premise – New York’s power couple staging unhappy marriages – this dated production coasts on its stars’ fame rather than testing their seaso…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32PM
Thursday, January 25, 2024

The Frogs review – Spymonkey’s search for ancient comedy and catharsis by Arifa Akbar

Royal & Derngate, NorthamptonThe Aristophanes play is interwoven with the theatre company’s personal quest in a ramshackle show that loses its way This Aristophanes comedy is theatre�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM
Sunday, January 21, 2024

Blood on Your Hands review – abattoir drama never gets to the meat of the issue by Arifa Akbar

Southwark Playhouse, LondonGrace Joy Howarth’s play about the lives of two slaughterhouse workers addresses many things – the ethics of eating animals, the situation in Ukraine, zero-hou…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Friday, January 19, 2024

Indestructible review – a YBA makes her comeback in art world satire by Arifa Akbar

Omnibus theatre, LondonA feminist artist and teacher is at the centre of Mary Swan’s overstuffed play exploring abuse, sexism and politics We meet a once famous artist just as she is being…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM

A Shakespeare play slashed to 80 minutes? Bring it on – theatre can be far too stressfull | Arifa Akbar by Arifa Akbar

The play’s the thing. But what’s so wrong with the RSC’s plan to also let people have dinner, or catch the last train home? “How poor are they that have not patience!”. So implores…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Hessian hyena and a pack of playful concepts reveal bright future for stage design by Arifa Akbar

The Linbury prize exhibition at the National Theatre is full of smart ideas including a truckers’ royal court and a jester-like Dr Faustus Alice in Wonderland reimagined in Partition-era I…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AM

Kin review – Gecko’s migrant drama speaks to the moment yet rarely connects by Arifa Akbar

Dorfman theatre, LondonWhile the aesthetics are arresting, Amit Lahav’s play lacks the specificity to create any emotional depth A drama about the epic horrors that migrants have faced cou…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Monday, January 15, 2024

‘Things were being thrown at us!’ Is booing at the theatre actually a good thing? by Arifa Akbar

It is one of the most electrifying and unsettling sounds in theatre. Should we be encouraging crowds to do it more? Experts tell us about booing’s origins – and actors remember being on …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AM
Sunday, January 14, 2024

Kim’s Convenience review – popcorn retail therapy spun from sitcom by Arifa Akbar

Park theatre, London Ins Choi’s comedy set in a Korean Canadian shop has an irresistible charm, despite at times feeling like a best-sketch montage from its TV forerunner Before Kim’s Co…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM
Friday, January 12, 2024

The Good John Proctor review – Salem gears up for witch hunting by Arifa Akbar

Jermyn Street theatre, LondonSet in the year before the events of The Crucible, the volatile children’s games that seed the later hysteria are brilliantly played but the drama is missing W…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM
Thursday, January 11, 2024

The Enfield Haunting review – Catherine Tate and David Threlfall deliver the shivers by Arifa Akbar

Ambassadors theatre, LondonWhile it doesn’t have the big jump scares of 2:22: A Ghost Story or The Woman in Black, this lo-fi horror builds in creepiness How well does horror play out on s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Alan Turing: A Musical Biography review – ode to the codebreaker is bafflingly dull by Arifa Akbar

Riverside Studios, LondonThe compelling life of the world-changing mathematician and logician is somehow rendered unremarkable in a drab musical Alan Turing’s life was without doubt dramat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Exhibitionists review – bed-hopping comedy of manners is a charmer by Arifa Akbar

King’s Head theatre, LondonSet in San Francisco’s art world, Shaun McKenna and Andrew Van Sickle’s frothy farce brings a contemporary gay twist to an old-school comic formula This frot…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM
Tuesday, December 26, 2023

The best theatre, dance and comedy tickets to book in 2024 by Arifa Akbar, Lyndsey Winship and Brian Logan

The new year’s hottest shows include stage versions of Minority Report, Spirited Away and La Strada, performances by Keeley Hawes and Ian McKellen – plus laughs from Julia Masli, Rhod Gi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Thursday, December 21, 2023

The best theatre, comedy and dance of 2023 by Arifa Akbar, Brian Logan and Lyndsey Winship

Our critics’ highlights of the year include a 24-hour marathon, a standup welcoming hecklers, a reboot of The Matrix and a bus ride filled with emotion• More on the best culture of 2023 …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Wednesday, December 20, 2023

This Much I Know review – an invigorating theatrical brainteaser by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, LondonStalin’s daughter and a white supremacist’s son navigate their psychological inheritances as scenarios and characters change quickly in a blizzard of ideas This …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM
Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Protest Song review – grief, rage and a singalong in Occupy movement drama by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, LondonThis timely revival of Tim Price’s monologue about a rough sleeper drawn into activism leaves little space for vulnerability ‘Got any change?” asks a man with a w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18PM
Friday, December 15, 2023

Macbeth review – David Tennant thrills in this high concept production by Arifa Akbar

The staging is imaginative and expressive, and the audience is immersed in the action by hearing everything through headphones This is the second starry adaptation of Shakespeare’s Scottis…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18PM
Thursday, December 14, 2023

Stranger Things: The First Shadow review – breathtaking theatre by Arifa Akbar

Phoenix theatre, LondonThis origin story has all the dark mystery of the Duffer Brothers’ Netflix series and delivers one coup de theatre after another It starts with those floating red le…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards