All stories by Arifa Akbar on BroadwayStars

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Peter Pan review – dark mischief and a wicked Tinkerbell steal the show by Arifa Akbar

Troubadour White City theatre, LondonSally Cookson’s stunning production brims with naughtiness, bloodlust and menace – recalling JM Barrie’s original intentions for the story Peter Pa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AM
Friday, July 26, 2019

Malory Towers review – Emma Rice takes Blyton to the top of the class by Arifa Akbar

The Passenger Shed, BristolWith a diverse cast bringing an affectionate subversiveness to Enid Blyton’s postwar school tales, Rice’s musical is huge fun and surprisingly contemporary Emm…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM
Thursday, July 18, 2019

Our Church review – quietly powerful parish abuse reckoning by Arifa Akbar

Watermill, NewburyMarietta Kirkbride’s play about a village torn over forgiving a sex offender convincingly channels older voices The #MeToo movement has inspired a number of plays giving…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:36PM
Friday, July 12, 2019

Lunatic 19s: A Deportational Road Trip – powerful US immigration drama by Arifa Akbar

Finborough, LondonGabriela Garcia and Devon Anderson shine as a prisoner and her guard in a story where the lines are blurred Tegan McLeod’s drama about American citizenship, illegal immi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM
Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner review – social media storm lit up by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court, LondonJasmine Lee-Jones’s play follows an online battle about the Instagram star and tackles racism, misogyny and colourism The lights are still dead when this play opens. A w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Monday, July 8, 2019

Whitewash review – mother and son on the frontline of racial tension by Arifa Akbar

Soho theatre, LondonA young man plans to privatise the estate where he grew up in Gabriel Bisset-Smith’s quick-witted drama about identity and belonging Mary is mixed-race; her son Lysande…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM
Thursday, July 4, 2019

Grey review – the racial politics of mental health by Arifa Akbar

Ovalhouse, LondonThe second instalment of Koko Brown’s colour trilogy is a darkly humorous piece about depression White, the first part of Koko Brown’s “colour” trilogy, was about gr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:03PM
Thursday, June 27, 2019

Chasing Rainbows review – boldly going into the white, male space race by Arifa Akbar

Hoxton Hall, London Donna Berlin is intense as an astronaut in Oneness Sankara’s play about the emotional cost of female ambition ‘I would like to tell you a story about being the first,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24PM
Tuesday, June 25, 2019

'Your cat is watching you!' The fearless felines hidden by their author by Arifa Akbar

William Baldwin concealed his 16th-century book Beware the Cat because of its satirical swipes at the Catholic church. Now, it’s celebrated on stage What was the first novel in the English…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36AM
Thursday, June 20, 2019

Blithe Spirit review – Jennifer Saunders is spookily funny by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal BathSaunders is a fizzy delight as the medium in Richard Eyre’s revival of the Noël Coward comedy about a couple haunted by the ghost of the husband’s first wife Noël Cow…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54PM
Monday, June 10, 2019

Kill Climate Deniers review – eco-warriors turn up the heat by Arifa Akbar

Pleasance, LondonDavid Finnigan’s bold play about protesters who take an environment minister hostage is stalled by metatheatrics In London’s Parliament Square last October, teenage acti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM
Tuesday, June 4, 2019

The Glass Menagerie review – bold and bewitching take on Tennessee Williams by Arifa Akbar

Arcola, LondonFemi Elufowoju Jr’s engaging production puts an African American family at its centre but misses some of the play’s quietly heart-wringing moments Playwright August Wilson…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Monday, June 3, 2019

The Audience review – Theresa May joins conveyor belt of PMs meeting the Queen by Arifa Akbar

NST City, SouthamptonUpdated to include Brexit, Peter Morgan’s 2013 drama about the Queen’s off-the-record conversations with her prime ministers seems underpowered Peter Morgan’s play…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PM
Monday, May 27, 2019

Blueprint Medea review – Euripides explodes in modern London by Arifa Akbar

Finborough theatre, LondonJulia Pascal’s dynamic production sees Medea reborn as a former fighter against Isis who finds Jason in the British capital Euripides’ Medea is not just a blood…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24PM
Thursday, May 23, 2019

Does My Bomb Look Big in This? review – fierce, witty study of radicalisation by Arifa Akbar

Soho theatre, LondonNyla Levy’s play about London schoolfriends, divided when one goes to Syria, is savvy, streetwise and energetic What makes a 15-year-old from Mitcham, south London, lea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AM
Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Hoard review – emotional wreckage from a drive-by family visit by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, LondonThere are entertaining performances in Bim Adewunmi’s lively debut play about a British-Nigerian family with a dinner guest The dinner party has served as the setting…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03PM
Wednesday, May 15, 2019

The Firm review – pub drama overflows with banter and rage by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, LondonZingy repartee and energetic performances fail to enliven Roy Williams’ tale about a criminal gang’s unresolved grievances The Firm opens in high mood as four mi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06PM
Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Rejoicing at Her Wondrous Vulva … review – listen to this clitoris by Arifa Akbar

Ovalhouse, LondonNothing feels gratuitous in Bella Heesom’s bold and poetic play about female sexuality which ends in catharsis not climax More than 20 years ago, Eve Ensler dared to say t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:12PM
Thursday, May 9, 2019

A Thousand Splendid Suns review – comic fog clouds Hosseini drama by Arifa Akbar

Birmingham RepThis staging of the bestseller loses the story’s gut-wrenching power in a sea of lighthearted flourish Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling book The Kite Runner is about fathers, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PM
Friday, April 26, 2019

Captain Corelli's Mandolin review – wartime weepy is shocking and wondrous by Arifa Akbar

Rose theatre, KingstonRona Munro’s adaptation of the Louis de Bernières classic cuts back the love story to drum home the bloody trauma of conflict Louis de Bernières’s Greek island ep…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:34AM
Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Other People’s Money review – good capitalism goes to war with greed by Arifa Akbar

Southwark Playhouse, LondonUnfettered excess and predatory humour combine in a timely reflection on big business Jerry Sterner’s play about Wall Street avarice first opened off-Broadway tw…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:37AM
Friday, April 19, 2019

Tumulus review – chemsex, murder and social satire in 'queer noir' thriller by Arifa Akbar

Soho theatre, LondonThere’s comedy and mystery but darker themes are under-explored in this original but tricksy meta-theatre production Anthony (Ciarán Owens) is a thirtysomething gay ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:21AM

Amélie the Musical review – sepia-toned surrealism that's high on imagination by Arifa Akbar

The Watermill Theatre, NewburyThe arrival of the kind-hearted and introverted Parisian on the UK stage is a magical and emotional triumph of adaptation The formidable success of Amélie the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:55AM
Sunday, April 14, 2019

Mrs Noah fights back: 'It's about extinction. There is no bigger story' by Arifa Akbar

Among the protesters heading for parliament are Noah’s family and Ade Adepitan as God in a suit. April De Angelis talks about turning the biblical flood into riotous drama On Monday, a day…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:00AM
Thursday, April 11, 2019

Europe's unflinching tales of #MeToo and xenophobia land in London by Arifa Akbar

A Piece of the Continent, a festival celebrating the unifying influence of European theatre, includes dramas about patriarchy, dogmatism and dementia As Britain seeks to finalise its divorce…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:54AM
Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Abhishek Majumdar: the playwright fighting death threats with ice cream by Arifa Akbar

Blocked from entering Tibet, he simply walked in through the Himalayas, hiding from Chinese soldiers. As his play about riots in the region is finally staged, the Indian writer talks about l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:38AM
Wednesday, March 20, 2019

The Rubenstein Kiss review – passion and paranoia as spy drama implodes by Arifa Akbar

Southwark Playhouse, LondonThis drama inspired by Julius and Ethel Rosenberg is ripe for revival but the story asks more questions than it answers James Phillips calls it the “perfect time…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:07AM
Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Athol Fugard's apartheid dramas still bite in our divided age by Arifa Akbar

New productions of A Lesson from Aloes and Blood Knot forcefully portray a world of claustrophobia, surveillance and the subtleties of racial exclusion The multiracial plays of Athol Fugard …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:56AM
Sunday, March 10, 2019

Monica Dolan: ‘I stopped reading reviews when one said I was kittenish’ by Arifa Akbar

The award-winning actor and writer on All About Eve, celebrity culture and the perils of not actually being Welsh Monica Dolan is a Bafta-winning actor and writer. Born in Middlesbrough, her…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AM
Friday, March 8, 2019

The Ridiculous Darkness review – Conrad, Coppola and the 'white saviour' complex by Arifa Akbar

Gate theatre, LondonA story from a Somali pirate kicks off this outlandish comic critique of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now Wolfram Lotz’s surreally comic critique of Joseph Conrad�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:23AM
Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Inside Bitch review – prison truths beyond Orange Is the New Black by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court, LondonClean Break’s satirical look at the stereotypes around life in jail ends up undone by its own artifice Inside Bitch is a drama about drama and its misrepresentations. Fo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:49PM

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