All stories by Arifa Akbar on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Richard III review – a fast-paced study of toxic masculinity with an almost entirely female cast by Arifa Akbar

Michelle Terry plays the king as a playfully antic sociopath in a lively production full of effective performances Has there ever been a more contested Richard III? Michelle Terry’s self-…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12PM
Monday, May 20, 2024

Dog Poop Attack: the play that dishes dirt on theatre-world animosities by Arifa Akbar

The case of a German ballet director who attacked a critic with faeces has loosely inspired a satire about the relationships between creators and critics Among the spikier offerings at this …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Friday, May 17, 2024

Now, I See review – Black brotherly joy amid gut-wrenching grief by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonThe second, strikingly physical part of Lanre Malaolu’s trilogy that began with Samskara explores bereavement with lightness as well as anguish It is ha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM
Thursday, May 16, 2024

English review – Pulitzer-winning classroom play doesn’t quite make the grade by Arifa Akbar

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-AvonFour students in Iran are under pressure to pass their foreign language exams in Sanaz Toossi’s gentle comedy that puts discussion above drama and ideas…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM
Wednesday, May 15, 2024

People, Places and Things review – Denise Gough reprises a shattering story of addiction by Arifa Akbar

Trafalgar theatre, LondonThe Olivier award-winner returns to her role as an actor in rehab in Duncan Macmillan’s brutally powerful play Duncan Macmillan’s 2015 play about addiction is a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM
Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Between Riverside and Crazy review – Danny Sapani’s ex-cop faces down the past by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, LondonStrong performances and jibing humour propel this exuberant but flawed revival of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s 2014 play about racism in the New York police force This r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM
Friday, May 10, 2024

Punch review – James Graham’s tragic study of a fatal blow by Arifa Akbar

Nottingham PlayhouseA teenager kills a trainee paramedic with a single strike on a night out in Nottingham in this deftly directed play based on a real story Take note: this is not a play ab…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:03AM
Thursday, May 9, 2024

Sappho review – the poet’s passions, from ancient Lesbos to spangly clubland by Arifa Akbar

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, LondonA mix of songs, dance, glitter and camp, this ancient-modern mashup is derailed by bland debates and a convoluted script An ancient Greek love story, this…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM
Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Spirited Away review – Studio Ghibli gem becomes a theatrical feast by Arifa Akbar

Coliseum, LondonHayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece is brought to life with imaginative puppetry, wondrous music and moments of delicate poetry Food and cooking feature prominently in the films o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36PM
Sunday, May 5, 2024

Dugsi Dayz review – young Muslim answer to The Breakfast Club fizzles out by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court, LondonFour south London girls tell stories during detention at a mosque in Sabrina Ali’s play, which ends before we know much about them Four British Somali girls are thrown t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM

Much Ado About Nothing review – frothy fun to please the purists by Arifa Akbar

Globe theatre, LondonThere’s no whiff of stuffiness in a Sean Holmes’ production characterised by warm summer euphoria, Elizabethan-era magic and entrancing music The Globe so often come…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM
Friday, May 3, 2024

The Cherry Orchard review – Benedict Andrews brings Chekhov bang up to date by Arifa Akbar

Donmar Warehouse, LondonNina Hoss stars in a kookily immersive production but the devastating hammer blow of the Russian tragicomedy is not lost in translation It is initially hard to fathom…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM
Wednesday, May 1, 2024

The Buddha of Suburbia review – playful spin through Hanif Kureishi’s novel by Arifa Akbar

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonEmma Rice directs an ebullient RSC version of the landmark 1990 story of sex, music, class and racism Hanif Kureishi’s 1990 debut novel was so cool that it…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Minority Report review – futuristic fugitive thriller is criminally undercooked by Arifa Akbar

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonMax Webster and David Haig’s ambitious female-led stage version of the sci-fi thriller is overwhelmed by its own optics This ambitious co-production was always goi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM
Sunday, April 28, 2024

The Other Boleyn Girl review – the sexual strategising of the conniving Boleyn family brought sharply to life by Arifa Akbar

Chichester Festival theatreMike Poulton’s adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s novel shows how the sisters refuse to be passive victims Wife Number 2 to serial husband, King Henry VIII, firs…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM
Friday, April 26, 2024

You Are Going to Die review – nothing is off-limits in this naked meditation on mortality by Arifa Akbar

Southwark Playhouse, LondonAdam Scott-Rowley struts, writhes and jiggles his way from ancient Celt to Hieronymus Bosch wretch in this potent cross between physical theatre and performance ar…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AM
Thursday, April 25, 2024

What (Is) a Woman review – like #MeToo never happened by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, LondonAndrée Bernard’s solo show is a bizarre representation of one woman’s love life, minus depth and character development This solo musical opens with a sex scene. A …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Sunday, April 21, 2024

1884 review – interactive theatre game invites the neighbours over to resist fascism by Arifa Akbar

Shoreditch Town Hall, LondonTalk of street parties, barbecues and book clubs gives way to politics in this work about authoritarianism, colonialism and how history gets rewritten The histor…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Friday, April 19, 2024

Love’s Labour’s Lost review – tech bros get swiped left in pitch perfect japes by Arifa Akbar

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonEmily Burns’ modern-day romcom, set on a Pacific island retreat, ramps up the silliness and makes accessible the text’s cloud-parting power …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:02AM
Thursday, April 18, 2024

London Tide review – Dickens and PJ Harvey team up for a melodrama as murky as the Thames by Arifa Akbar

National Theatre, LondonWith its heavy mood and gnomic song lyrics, this updated reimaging of Our Mutual Friend is like a 19th-century noir Period drama is given some sharp edges in this ada…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM
Monday, April 15, 2024

2024’s Olivier awards remain too white, too male – and too safe by Arifa Akbar

A string of seven awards for Sunset Boulevard was hardly radical, and many more daring theatrical successes went unrewarded The triumph of Jamie Lloyd’s reinvented Sunset Boulevard at this…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM
Sunday, April 14, 2024

The Comeuppance review – eloquence, tension and wit in a dysfunctional reunion drama by Arifa Akbar

Almeida, LondonFive American friends gather to catch up in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ new play. It’s a portrait of midlife malaise, but also a subtle meditation on post-Covid life A group …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PM
Thursday, April 11, 2024

Player Kings review – Ian McKellen richly complex Falstaff is magnetic by Arifa Akbar

Noel Coward theatre, LondonMutating from head criminal in a gothic thriller to slippery music hall entertainer, showman McKellen has centripetal force in Robert Icke’s slick, modern dress …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM
Wednesday, April 10, 2024

The Promise review – a devastating story of dementia and death by Arifa Akbar

Birmingham RepExpressive performances and arresting effects heighten this mother-son tragedy, primarily told through British Sign Language This drama opens with a lilting evocation of summer…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AM
Sunday, April 7, 2024

Gunter review – strange tale of murder, witchcraft and football fizzes with fairground energy by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court Upstairs, LondonLydia Higman, Julia Grogan and Rachel Lemon’s play set around a 1604 witch trial is a vital and exciting piece of gig theatre full of improvisational spirit and…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:12PM
Friday, April 5, 2024

Underdog: The Other Other Brontë review – modern mashup pits deceitful sister as a ruthless rival by Arifa Akbar

National Theatre, LondonA dislikable version of Charlotte, jockeying for prominence and yearning to be as immoral as Byron, is the surprising focus of this quick-witted drama As a drama abou…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AM
Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Long Day’s Journey Into Night review – Brian Cox upstaged by morphine fiend Patricia Clarkson by Arifa Akbar

Wyndham’s theatre, LondonCox is thrilling as an overbearing patriarch but it’s Clarkson who steals the show in Eugene O’Neill’s agonising family drama The overbearing patriarch in Eu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Sunday, March 31, 2024

Power of Sail review – campus cancel culture drama ripe for a Netflix series by Arifa Akbar

Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonPaul Grellong’s gripping dialogue makes a brisk plot and unlikable characters immensely watchable as a Harvard professor invites a white supremacist for a d…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Friday, March 29, 2024

The Divine Mrs S review – larky and good-natured historical comedy by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, LondonThere are shades of Blackadder in April De Angelis’s play about the great tragedian of 18th-century British theatre There is a certain chutzpah to writing a comedy…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM
Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Lover/The Collection review – Pinter plays psychological games by Arifa Akbar

Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, BathBourgeois boredom is pervaded by fantasy and betrayal in these one-act plays with an astute cast including David Morrissey and Mathew Horne Truth, lies and…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:10PM
Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Opening Night review – Sheridan Smith’s boozy meltdown shakes up musical theatre by Arifa Akbar

Gielgud Theatre, LondonSmith plays a Broadway star in the midst of a mental crisis in Ivo van Hove and Rufus Wainwright’s glittering and extravagantly original musical adaptation of the Ca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18PM

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