All stories by Arifa Akbar on BroadwayStars

Friday, March 28, 2025

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Musical review – no frights, no thrills … this mashup is a mystery by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal BathDespite its cleverly conceived monochrome set and some compelling songs, this series of stories from the master of suspense is a letdown Alfred Hitchcock had confirmed his …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Thursday, March 27, 2025

North By Northwest review – Emma Rice takes Hitchcock in delightful new directions by Arifa Akbar

York Theatre RoyalFun, intelligent and powered by Rice’s joyful whimsy, this playful take on the spy movie is a crowd-pleaser Mistaken identity fires Alfred Hitchcock’s Kafkaesque 1959 s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18PM
Wednesday, March 26, 2025

‘I don’t buy it’ … Ava Pickett on her play about Anne Boleyn’s treason and incest by Arifa Akbar

Was the second wife of Henry VIII really guilty of the crimes she was beheaded for? Pickett’s award-winning new play takes a sideways look at her downfall – by imagining its impact on ev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:32AM
Sunday, March 23, 2025

Playhouse Creatures review – backstage banter with the pioneering first women of theatre by Arifa Akbar

Orange Tree theatre, LondonCamaraderie, comedy and a love of the trade shine through in April De Angelis’s group portrait of Nell Gwyn and the other female actors who were the first to be …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM
Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Karen review – to hell and back with an ex and the office nemesis by Arifa Akbar

The Other Palace, LondonSarah Cameron-West’s one-woman show switches between inner and outer voices to explore envy, anger and inadequacy We are not given the name of the main character in…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM
Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors review – batty antics with a Rocky Horror bloodsucker by Arifa Akbar

Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonAs a gym-bunny vampire channelling Frank-N-Furter, James Daly leads a superb cast in a gender and genre-inverting romp that lacks bite Before they took on Bra…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:42AM
Friday, March 14, 2025

Cry-Baby, the Musical review – John Waters’ teen rebels will have you in tears of joy by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, LondonThis firecracker adaptation of the 1990 Johnny Depp film pokes fun at American conservative values in rockabilly songs bursting with biting ironies This musical adaptat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06PM
Thursday, March 13, 2025

Clueless review – all back to the 90s for a musical of the movie? As if! by Arifa Akbar

Trafalgar theatre, LondonAmy Heckerling adapts her own iconic screenplay for a lumbering production in need of more belters from composer KT Tunstall What do you get if you cross a high-scho…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36PM
Wednesday, March 12, 2025

The Glass Menagerie review – exquisite, utterly devastating take on Tennessee Williams’ classic by Arifa Akbar

Yard theatre, London Jay Miller’s production raises the ghosts of troubled memories with powerful intimacy in this final show before the venue gets a grand refit Tennessee Williams’ semi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM
Tuesday, March 11, 2025

The Habits review – dungeons and dragons do battle with real life by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, London A group of fantasy gamers begin to exorcise their struggles with grief and trauma in a drama with a brilliant set-up Fantasy isn’t factual but it’s true, said U…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM
Sunday, March 9, 2025

Dear Martin review – darkly comic prison pen-pal drama lacks bite by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, LondonMadeleine Brettingham’s play aims to unpick male friendships and send up criminal groupies, but it treats the subject of mental health too lightly to make it meaningf…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AM
Thursday, March 6, 2025

The Seagull review – Cate Blanchett and an all-star ensemble take wing by Arifa Akbar

Barbican theatre, London Thomas Ostermeier’s masterful staging has tremendous performances from a cast including Tom Burke, Emma Corrin and Kodi Smit-McPhee Chekhov described his country-h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM
Tuesday, March 4, 2025

One Day When We Were Young review – beautiful performances anchor romance across time by Arifa Akbar

Park theatre, LondonCassie Bradley and Barney White are vulnerable, brittle and finally tender as Violet and Leonard, in Nick Payne’s love story moving through decades Writer Nick Payne e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Friday, February 28, 2025

Alterations review – tailoring comedy remade to measure at the National Theatre by Arifa Akbar

Lyttelton theatre, LondonIn Michael Abbensetts’ play, elegantly directed by Lynette Linton, characters work, dream, horse around and question the nature of home This breezy comedy by the G…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PM
Thursday, February 27, 2025

A Knock on the Roof review – slowly searing account of life lived in a state of constant terror by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court theatre, LondonA woman living in Gaza rehearses her evacuation drill, should an Israeli bomb fall on her family, in Khawla Ibraheem’s scalding one-woman play If you had five to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM

Romeo and Juliet review – rap tragedy asks the audience who to blame by Arifa Akbar

Belgrade theatre, CoventryThere are ideas aplenty in this high-concept musical retelling of Shakespeare, but it gets off to a bumpy start This telling of the age-old tragedy begins with mode…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM
Sunday, February 23, 2025

Miss I-Doll review – a punkish sendup of reality TV competitions by Arifa Akbar

The Other Palace, LondonA concussed contestant causes a stir with her unfiltered protest songs, in this caffeinated monologue performed by Daisy Steere This musical satire of reality TV is a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:02AM
Friday, February 21, 2025

Backstroke review – Tamsin Greig and Celia Imrie lift choppy mother-daughter drama by Arifa Akbar

Donmar Warehouse, LondonGreig breathes compassion into her relation with self-absorbed parent Imrie but their exchanges swim across the decades incoherently A mother lies dying in a hospital…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36PM
Thursday, February 20, 2025

The Parent Agency review – David Baddiel’s derivative musical goes for the obvious jokes by Arifa Akbar

Storyhouse, ChesterA disgruntled child enters a parallel universe where he can select new parents. It has a spirited cast, but the songs are simplistic, stompy and uninspired Who could blame…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AM
Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Much Ado About Nothing review – Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell crackle in a party of pink by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal Drury Lane, LondonWith a chemistry that’s as bright as the modern-day costumes in this weird and wonderful show, the actors turn Shakespeare into a giddy house party cum mode…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54PM
Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Richard II review – Jonathan Bailey exudes charisma as a cocaine-snorting king of misrule by Arifa Akbar

Bridge Theatre, LondonNicholas Hytner’s production plays like a thriller, while Brigerton star Bailey glitters with feeling in a potently physical modern-dress production Long before Bridg…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54PM
Monday, February 17, 2025

Animal Farm review – muddy, sweaty production updates Orwell’s classic with astounding results by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal Stratford EastYou believe in the animals completely in this bold adaptation, which, with its seemingly guileless Napoleon, resonates darkly in the here and now Popular among th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Sunday, February 16, 2025

The Passenger review – wartime drama has a noirish haze but no real darkness by Arifa Akbar

Finborough theatre, LondonA symbolic, stripped-down staging fails to plumb the chilling emotional depths of this story about a Jewish man trying to flee Germany in the 1930s A wealthy Jewish…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32PM
Thursday, February 13, 2025

Unicorn review – Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan’s throuple comedy doesn’t catch fire by Arifa Akbar

Garrick Theatre, London A few zingy lines but threesome is lots of talk and no action – in all senses of that word – and peculiarly devoid of passion Throuple might be the current term f…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32PM
Tuesday, February 11, 2025

James Graham unveils AI comedy at ‘greatest hits’ gala for Paines Plough by Arifa Akbar

Playwrights and actors paid homage to the small but mighty UK theatre company that nurtured them, as part of a fundraising initiative for new writers A politician bounds on to the stage to t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:02PM
Sunday, February 9, 2025

Driftwood review – quietly affecting tale of brotherly love and loss by Arifa Akbar

Playhouse, SheffieldTim Foley’s beautifully lyrical script sees two brothers thrashing out their differing memories of a dying father in a drama full of truth, sadness and beauty Two griev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM
Friday, February 7, 2025

Antigone [on strike] review – shades of Shamima Begum as Sophocles’s rebel royal is exiled by Arifa Akbar

Park theatre, London This retelling of the princess’s story makes her a formerly radicalised teen stranded in Syria – but the immersive staging often gets in the way The story of Sophocl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Elektra review – Brie Larson makes a fearless West End debut in punk tragedy by Arifa Akbar

Duke of York’s theatre, LondonThe Captain Marvel star is a magnetic frontwoman in Daniel Fish’s radical rewiring of the ancient play ‘There’s nothing more dangerous to a warrior than…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12PM
Thursday, January 30, 2025

The Gift review – an existential ‘poo-dunnit’ that keeps on giving by Arifa Akbar

Park theatre, LondonAn anonymously delivered box of something unmentionable sends an advertising worker into a spiral in Dave Florez’s comedy A cake box arrives in the post, sent special d…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Five Lines review – mini dystopia projects maximum climate catastrophe by Arifa Akbar

Barbican, London Frau Trapp’s show, which uses tiny models seen on a huge screen, explores eco-disaster and inequality Presented by MimeLondon, this hybrid show plays out as micro-cinema-t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Thursday, January 23, 2025

Cymbeline review – hip thrusts and gender inversions enliven this tricky romcom tragedy by Arifa Akbar

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonInspired ideas abound in Jennifer Tang’s production but, among all the plotting, betting and baiting, it doesn’t quite all come together Shakespeare’s ea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre