All stories by Helen Hawkins on BroadwayStars

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors, National Theatre review - verbatim theatre delivered to wrenching effect by Helen Hawkins

Gillian Slovo's incendiary play points a finger at the bureaucrats at the heart of the tragedy The shadow of Grenfell Tower has already produced Nick Kent and Richard Norton-Taylor’s dispa…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:04AM
Tuesday, July 4, 2023

A Playlist for the Revolution, Bush Theatre review - idealism meets reality head-on by Helen Hawkins

Two students clash over changing the world with a playlist The revolution in the title of AJ Yi’s new play at the Bush is the one activists hoped to set in motion in Hong Kong in 2019, whe…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:07AM
Monday, July 3, 2023

Song from Far Away, Hampstead Theatre review - gentle monologue from a man grappling with grief by Helen Hawkins

Will Young brings sweetness to a thin scenario Lucky Will Young: the production of the Simon Stephens monologue Song from Far Away that he is delivering at the Hampstead Theatre is directed…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:08AM
Saturday, July 1, 2023

A Strange Loop, Barbican review - Black queer musical with confusing concept but an excellent lead by Helen Hawkins

Michael R Jackson's writing talent finds a claustrophobic outlet If you are going to see A Strange Loop, the new American musical trailing a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize that has arrived …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:07AM
Thursday, June 22, 2023

Mrs Doubtfire, Shaftesbury Theatre review - bold musical makeover of the hit comic film by Helen Hawkins

A star turn from Gabriel Vick powers a lively but loud adaptation The heart sinks (mine does, anyway) as the latest film-to-musical adaptation rolls into town, all with similar sound-worlds,…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:55PM
Tuesday, June 20, 2023

School Girls, Lyric Hammersmith review - an African Mean Girls with added bite by Helen Hawkins

Pupils at an elite Ghanaian school learn home truths about their country The alternative title of Jocelyn Bioh’s 2017 play School Girls, The African Mean Girls Play, might indicate that it…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:04AM
Friday, June 16, 2023

Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical, Phoenix Theatre review - more crude than cruel by Helen Hawkins

Easy targets and predictable jibes let down an ambitious production There are flashes during Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical of the old mordant humour from the show's heyday,…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:07AM
Tuesday, June 13, 2023

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse Elephant review - superbly performed folksy musical by Helen Hawkins

A winning ensemble led by Jamie Parker deliver a refreshing piece The short story F Scott Fitzgerald wrote as a challenge, of a man born 70 years old whose body gets younger as the years pas…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:43AM
Saturday, June 10, 2023

Groundhog Day, Old Vic review - Tim Minchin’s musical returns in full-on style by Helen Hawkins

A bravura turn from Andy Karl propels a tricky piece over its self-created speed bumps Groundhog Day, appropriately, is back where it started. The hit film about a TV weatherman’s endlessl…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:55AM
Thursday, June 8, 2023

Yours Unfaithfully, Jermyn Street Theatre review - resonant debate about open marriage from 1933 by Helen Hawkins

Forgotten Miles Malleson play deserves its revival Miles Malleson, known as an inter-war character actor who popped up in numerous small roles on stage and screen, was also a surprisingly p…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:49AM
Thursday, June 1, 2023

Mad About the Boy review - entertaining cradle-to-grave Noel Coward documentary by Helen Hawkins

The Master's life seen close up but with no warts Devoted fans may not learn anything that new about Noel Coward from Barnaby Thompson’s documentary Mad About the Boy, but they will doubtl…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:06AM

Re-Member Me, Hampstead Theatre review - wittily staged but poignant lip-syncing by Helen Hawkins

Dickie Beau creates a tribute to past Hamlets, one in particular Lip-syncing has become the hobby of many a young TikToker, but only an intrepid professional would contemplate using the tech…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:18AM
Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Invisible, Bush Studio review - engaging monologue about Brown cultural identity by Helen Hawkins

Nikhil Parmar delivers his play with passion and wit The Bond film theme plays and the lights go up at the Bush’s Studio space to reveal, not a tuxedoed superspy, but a slim figure in cas…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:12AM
Thursday, May 11, 2023

Operation Mincemeat, Fortune Theatre review - high-octane musical comedy hits the big time by Helen Hawkins

Five actors plus loads of silly hats and accents add up to a hilarious evening It’s back yet again, Operation Mincemeat, a gift of a story that goes on giving. It surfaced as the 1956 film…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:12AM
Monday, May 8, 2023

August in England, Bush Theatre review - Lenny Henry monologue lands a painful one-two by Helen Hawkins

The Windrush scandal embodied with wrenching power Reggae hits are already playing over the speaker system at the Bush when the audience enters, some jigging to the sounds as they find their…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:36AM
Saturday, April 29, 2023

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction, Barbican Theatre review - eco-touring play doesn’t travel well by Helen Hawkins

Bizarre directorial choices derail the play's serious content There was a jolting eco-themed work onstage in London recently, but sadly A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction, a Headl…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:36AM
Tuesday, April 25, 2023

The Secret Life of Bees, Almeida Theatre review - stirringly delivered musical about civil rights by Helen Hawkins

Lynn Nottage and a faultless cast offer a story that's a hymn to hope The cast of The Secret Life of Bees first parade onto the Almeida stage hefting big glass storage jars full of a golden …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:54AM
Saturday, April 22, 2023

The Meaning of Zong, Barbican review - didactic tale based on the 1781 massacre of 132 slaves by Helen Hawkins

Giles Terera delivers a dramatic lecture on the legacy of slavery There’s a moment in the opening stretch of Giles Terera’s The Meaning of Zong where you think the former Hamilton star …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:12AM
Saturday, April 8, 2023

The Dry House, Marylebone Theatre review - fine performances in Irish three-hander by Helen Hawkins

Eugene O'Hare treads familiar ground with his confessional about alcoholism Eugene O’Hare’s The Dry House is the kind of spare but oddly lyrical three-hander that would have made a good …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:06AM
Monday, April 3, 2023

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy, Apollo Theatre review - a turbo-charged, game-changing piece of theatre by Helen Hawkins

A terrific ensemble make an exhilarating plea for Black boys with blighted lives For a show that comes with a trigger warning about the themes of racism, gang violence, toxic relationships, …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:24AM
Saturday, March 18, 2023

Marjorie Prime, Menier Chocolate Factory review - superbly acted chiller about a contemporary crisis by Helen Hawkins

Pulitzer finalist asks how good an ally is modern technology Artificial intelligence has become an even hotter topic since Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime was first staged in Los Angeles …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:57AM
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Guys and Dolls, Bridge Theatre review - exuberant new production of the 1950 masterpiece by Helen Hawkins

Nicholas Hytner and a crack cast deliver a fresh take on the classic musical It now seems an inevitability that Marisha Wallace will be a frontrunner at next year's theatre awards, not just…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:55AM
Wednesday, March 8, 2023

The Great British Bake Off Musical, Noel Coward Theatre review - blue-chip cast lift daft confection by Helen Hawkins

It's more adult panto than mature musical, with the sauce liberally ladled on If you are hoping for some harmless fun at The Great British Bake Off Musical, probably with a few dodgy jokes a…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:41AM
Monday, March 6, 2023

Sleepova, Bush Theatre review - sweet coming of age play with a soft centre by Helen Hawkins

A vivacious cast are great fun to hang out with Can a play ever be a bit too much like real life? The thought came to me while watching Matilda Feyisayo Ibini’s entertaining new play Slee…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:49AM
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Akedah, Hampstead Theatre review - long-separated sisters reunite to battle over their past by Helen Hawkins

Michael John O'Neill's debut stirs up questions but not emotions Michael John O’Neill’s first full-length play, premiering at the Hampstead's studio space downstairs, is a puzzler. There…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 12:58AM
Monday, February 20, 2023

Duet for One, Orange Tree Theatre review - poignant two-hander gets an updated reprise by Helen Hawkins

Affecting revival of Tom Kempinski play about an ailing musician and her therapist This 1981 two-hander was opened out for a film in 1986, starring Julie Andrews no less, with all its offst…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:33AM
Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Winner's Curse, Park Theatre review - Clive Anderson takes to the boards by Helen Hawkins

The dark arts of diplomacy get a makeover as a comedy workshop Who better to write a piece about the game-playing of a peace-talks negotiation than a former peace-talk negotiator, Daniel Tau…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:23AM
Friday, February 3, 2023

2:22 A Ghost Story, Lyric Theatre review - Cheryl makes an impressive stage debut by Helen Hawkins

Danny Robins' clever play gains a creditable star turn in its fifth run The set of 2:22 A Ghost Story is open to the auditorium when we arrive and locates us at once in gentrification-land. …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:16AM
Monday, January 30, 2023

Othello, Lyric Hammersmith review - Frantic Assembly's high-energy take on the Moor by Helen Hawkins

Shakespeare's tragedy as a tight thriller, with its racist elements fully exposed Frantic Assembly’s Othello, originally co-developed with the Lyric in 2008, is back in its third iteration…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:16AM
Friday, January 27, 2023

Charlie & Stan, Wilton’s Music Hall, review - a beguiling fantasy about two silent comedy greats by Helen Hawkins

Told by an Idiot return with a celebration of silent-movie antics and daft gags Imagine what would have happened if the young Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel were cabin-mates on a transatlan…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:00AM
Saturday, January 14, 2023

The Art of Illusion, Hampstead Theatre review - a hit from Paris conjures up strange-but-true stories by Helen Hawkins

A cast with an infectious gift for fun give this French confection a touch of stage magic First came Yasmin Reza’s 1994 long-runner Art; now another French hit, The Art of Illusion, has ar…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:22AM

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