1,230 stories by "Arifa Akbar"
Lyric theatre, LondonMichael Ball returns to sing Love Changes Everything, this time as the uncle, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of romantic entanglements
If Aspects of Love is a blast fr…
Leeds PlayhouseA year after Mellor's death, Tess Seddon directs her 1993 play marked by dry northern wit, knowing ridiculousness and deep, understated sadness
Kay Mellor's play features a wo…
Young Vic, LondonOver 24 hours, the star offers variations on the same scene with 100 different partners, including some famous faces " and the result is astonishing
Even before Ruth Wilson …
@sohoplace, LondonThe desolately poignant tale is brought into stark relief in Jonathan Butterell's production through Eddi Reader's beautiful vocals and a compelling cast
Where Ang Lee tran…
An inspiring analysis of Shakespeare and race restores his reputation as a playwright for all
There is a vivid moment in Farah Karim-Cooper's new book where she reflects on the image of the …
Lyttelton theatre, LondonMark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn star in Jack Thorne's play about the prickly pair's 1960s Broadway production of Hamlet
In 1964, John Gielgud directed a stripped-back B…
Royal and Derngate theatre, NorthamptonCoal-black humour propels Brontë's tale of murderous desire, animal torture and family abuse
Emily Brontë's gothic romance is so often cleansed o…
Barbican, LondonThe star narrates an innovative, pedal-powered production that muses on the climate crisis but the wide range of topics limits the storytelling
As a concept, Katie Mitchell's…
Kiln theatre, LondonRyan Calais Cameron's terrific three-hander dramatises a meeting in 1955 Hollywood, mapping the dilemmas that actors of colour still face
Two white men are having a frank…
Dorfman theatre, LondonWhen Mary returns home from prison, there is both humour and horror in store, as Deborah Bruce's play explores a cycle of abuse
The set reveals a house sliced apart so…
Prince Edward theatre, LondonThis plodding account of the Motown band's highs and lows is more than a little soulless
A musical about the Temptations was always going to have a phenomenal so…
Almeida theatre, LondonA young white woman and her Black housekeeper flee across the American south amid the historic struggle, buoyed by astonishingly powerful music
First seen off-Broadway…
Olivier theatre, LondonThere are superb performances from a cast including Siobhán McSweeney and Ardal O'Hanlon in Josie Rourke's production
Brian Friel's semi-autobiographical play, set …
Southwark Playhouse, LondonDepicting a brave group who took a stand against selling South African goods in 1984, this spirited show raises the question of why the Dunnes Stores strike isn't …
Available onlineThe daughter of an addict and a young man trapped in the drugs trade meet in an unsentimental tale that blends tenderness and tragedy
Two teenagers meet on a bombed-out sofa …
Old Vic, BristolPlayful yet plaintive, this six-person show condemns the indignities suffered by two vulnerable elderly people navigating our inadequate system
It seems like a particularly a…
Barbican, LondonCheek By Jowl's Spanish-language version of the surreal 1635 classic fuses dreamlike garishness with bizarre slapstick
Pedro Calderón de la Barca's 1635 verse play interro…
Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonLolita Chakrabarti's staging of Maggie O'Farrell's moving novel about the death of the playwright's son " and his resurrection in Hamlet " is powerfully play…
Liverpool PlayhouseThe actor and director pitches the antihero as a racial outsider. She is compelling, but he is an inconsistent character in a production leached of intrigue
This productio…
Omnibus theatre, LondonUsing brilliantly expressive movement, a modern Daphne is torn between a glossy public face and an inner world of howling self-hate
A woman in blond wig and sparkly sk…
Harold Pinter theatre, LondonSome called it torture porn, others a masterpiece. Ivo van Hove brings Hanya Yanagihara's novel to the West End, complete with spurting blood, relentless sadism …
Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, LondonCordelia Lynn seeks to rewrite the rules of playwriting in this rough jewel of a play about a family of women
What we know is that this is a house by the …
Southwark Playhouse, LondonHeadbanging frontwoman Dani Heron moves from schoolgirl sex, parties and music-making to teen pregnancy, miscarriage, rape and depression
The set is a cross betwee…
Watford Palace theatreA cockney fox and a preening jackdaw open our eyes to the wonders of nature in this charming show based on Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris's book
In this new musica…
Southwark Playhouse Elephant, LondonIt's a nice idea but this disconnected show about the former Italian PM makes some bizarre choices and lacks satirical bite
This satire about Italy's form…