All stories by Arifa Akbar on BroadwayStars

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

Ulster American review – Woody Harrelson and Andy Serkis perfectly awful in anarchic comedy by Arifa Akbar

Riverside Studios, LondonDavid Ireland’s explosive satire turns into farce as two buffoons parading as progressives team up with a dramatist played by Louisa Harland Two white men in show …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AM
Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Rock’n’Roll review – Tom Stoppard’s blast from the past by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, LondonStoppard’s 2006 play asks important ideological questions with typically fizzing wordplay but its growling, feral energy comes too late Tom Stoppard has spoken of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Indhu Rubasingham is the perfect choice for the National Theatre by Arifa Akbar

The NT’s newly announced artistic director was an inspiring leader at the Kiln. She will bring experience, passion, canny ability – and the magnificently unexpected – to her new post F…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12PM
Friday, December 8, 2023

Talking About the Fire review – anti-nuclear lecture is a puzzling dud by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court theatre, LondonChris Thorpe’s one-man show is more of a scrappy routine than a meaningful call for disarmament There are nine nations in the world that possess nuclear weapons,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM
Wednesday, December 6, 2023

The Homecoming review – Pinter’s timeless study of toxic masculinity by Arifa Akbar

Young Vic, LondonPlaying a man meeting his daughter-in-law for the first time, Jared Harris brings out the dark comedy in Pinter’s snapshot of misogyny Harold Pinter’s two-act family dra…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Pacific Overtures review – small Sondheim is beautifully done by Arifa Akbar

Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonCo-production with Osaka company brings 1976 study of American imperialism arriving in Japan to subtle, funny life When Stephen Sondheim’s 1976 musical prem…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Friday, December 1, 2023

A Woman Walks into a Bank review – tricksy Russian tragicomedy with a talking cat by Arifa Akbar

Theatre503, LondonRoxy Cook’s award-winning debut is a whimsical, layered meta-tale about the clash of old Soviet ways and modern, capitalist culture This play opens just as the title prom…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AM
Thursday, November 30, 2023

Arabian Nights review – warming festive treat with bags of scrappy charm by Arifa Akbar

Bristol Old VicPart panto, part Arabian version of EastEnders, writer Sonali Bhattacharyya, and a winning cast have cobbled together a fizzing modern-day fable about the power of storytellin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM
Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Macbeth review – Ralph Fiennes’ monstrous monarch wages war in a warehouse by Arifa Akbar

The Depot, LiverpoolStaged in a hangar-like venue strewn with the charred remnants of battle, Simon Godwin’s intelligent production puts violent conflict to the fore At first, it looks lik…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18PM

The House of Bernarda Alba review – Harriet Walter rules as Lorca gets a refurb by Arifa Akbar

Lyttelton theatre, LondonAdapted by Alice Birch and directed by Rebecca Frecknall, this is a stylised study in control and daughterly disobedience ‘To be born a woman is the worst punishme…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM
Thursday, November 23, 2023

Ghosts review – Ibsen’s intense tragedy by candlelight by Arifa Akbar

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonJoe Hill-Gibbins directs his own version of the psychodrama, creating a potent atmosphere with designer Rosanna Vize If the title of Ibsen’s 1881 tragedy abo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PM
Wednesday, November 22, 2023

The Witches review – frights played for fun in rollicking musical by Arifa Akbar

Olivier theatre, LondonRoald Dahl’s villains are given a makeover with a gag-filled script by Lucy Kirkwood and a couple of storming numbers In Roald Dahl’s universe, witches are the mos…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM
Tuesday, November 21, 2023

The Mongol Khan review – a spectacular, swashbuckling tale of succession by Arifa Akbar

Coliseum, LondonA colossal cast of singers, dancers, acrobats and contortionists take your breath away in this epic and moving story of betrayal and parental sacrifice This show, about the g…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
Sunday, November 19, 2023

Night Shift review – interconnected stories of isolation and intimacy by Arifa Akbar

Stanley Arts, LondonCombining spoken dialogue with BSL this innovative production shines a light on the unsung heroes who keep the economy running while the world sleeps The drama opens as t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM

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
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic