All stories by Arifa Akbar on BroadwayStars

Friday, March 13, 2020

Afterplay review " Brian Friel's Chekhovian parlour game by Arifa Akbar

Coronet theatre, London Friel's mashup of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters is an exciting prospect, but this production lacks chemistry Afterplay initially sounds like drama of the mo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 12, 2020

Love, Love, Love review " baby boomers v generation austerity by Arifa Akbar

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonMike Bartlett's brilliant play follows a couple trying, and failing, to keep family together 'The personal is political" started out as a feminist rallying call in t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Coriolanus review " political powerplay that packs a punch by Arifa Akbar

Crucible, SheffieldAn arrogant elite, populist fury … Robert Hastie charts the rise and fall of Tom Bateman's hero with a modern-day edge For all of its ruthless violence and ferocious mil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:02PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Shoe Lady review " Katherine Parkinson's off-kilter commuter delights by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court, LondonVicky Featherstone directs EV Crowe's play about a working mother who loses a shoe and her grip on reality 'I'm often frustrated by the rhythms of naturalism," EV Crowe ha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 6, 2020

Corpse! review " murder most tepid by Arifa Akbar

Park theatre, LondonSome nifty staging and a strong performance from Tom York as two warring brothers cannot enliven this outdated caper Gerald Moon's 1983 comic crime caper is set in the ye…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 5, 2020

Run Sister Run review " raw portrait of enduring love seen in reverse by Arifa Akbar

Crucible Studio theatre, SheffieldTwo sisters travel back across four decades in Chloë Morris's gritty and unsentimental story of a pained relationship Difficult sisterhood appears to be …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:03PM[SHARE]

The Mikvah Project review " bathing, banter and burning desire by Arifa Akbar

Orange Tree theatre, LondonJosh Azouz's play explores the passion between two men who go to the same synagogue but it lacks tension and tenderness 'This is a mikvah," states a character at t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 3, 2020

The recipe for realistic theatre gore? Jelly, oatmeal and raw meat by Arifa Akbar

From cat brains to dismembered tongues, the teams behind theatre's bloodiest shows reveal how they made audiences shriek with horror and delight Bodies hacked to pieces, brains dribbling out…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 2, 2020

Pretty Woman: The Musical review " tasteless romcom returns with tunes by Arifa Akbar

Piccadilly theatre, London Danny Mac and Aimie Atkinson star in the schmaltzy and shallow Hollywood tale, told with a few winning songs A businessman picks up a sex worker to turn her into h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 28, 2020

Women Beware Women review " excess all areas with Tara Fitzgerald by Arifa Akbar

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonThomas Middleton's play seems perfect for the #MeToo era, but this over-stylised production misses the mark Thomas Middleton's revenge drama about patriarchy, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 26, 2020

'Any attempt is perilous!' How do you adapt a novel for the stage? by Arifa Akbar

Tales by Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter and Emily Brontë are all being brought to theatres this year. Their creative teams reflect on what they cut and what they added How does a well-love…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM[SHARE]

The Tin Drum review " Günter Grass's spectacular study of German trauma by Arifa Akbar

Coronet theatre, LondonNico Holonics is in resoundingly offbeat form as as a stunted child in a solo show that delights in making its audience squirm 'How shall I begin?" asks Nico Holonics …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 25, 2020

The Prince of Egypt review " Babylon goes to Vegas but loses its stardust by Arifa Akbar

Dominion, LondonIt's got pageantry, pyramids and dazzling dance moves, but this lavish stage adaptation drowns out the emotional drama DreamWorks' musical animation The Prince of Egypt was …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 20, 2020

Pass Over review " fiercely relevant and compelling by Arifa Akbar

Kiln, LondonAntoinette Nwandu's powerful absurdist urban tragedy sees two black homeless men " cowed by the ever-present threat of police brutality " pursue their own American dream Antoinet…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 19, 2020

A Number review " Caryl Churchill's clone fable counts cost of progress by Arifa Akbar

Bridge theatre, London Roger Allam plays a father with multiple versions of the same son in a drama that feels like an early noughties Black Mirror Caryl Churchill wrote A Number in 2002, wh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Be More Chill review " glorious misfit musical for the age of oddballs by Arifa Akbar

The Other Palace, LondonThe soaring joys and plunging agonies of adolescence are treated with humour and heart in this refreshing arrival from Broadway 'There's never been a better time in h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 17, 2020

The High Table review " coming out and coming together in tender debut by Arifa Akbar

Bush theatre, LondonInspired by Master of None, Temi Wilkey delivers a heartfelt and funny tale of love and ancestral ties in a Nigerian family 'Being gay isn't something black people love t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:03AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 14, 2020

The Visit review " Tony Kushner's plodding revenge epic falls flat by Arifa Akbar

Olivier theatre, London Lesley Manville excels as the billionaire returning to her small town but even she can't save this bloated adaptation The Visit (or The Old Lady Comes to Call) is a 1…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Leopoldstadt review " Stoppard's family portrait is an elegiac epic by Arifa Akbar

Wyndham's theatre, LondonPatrick Marber directs Tom Stoppard's sweeping story of a Jewish family in Vienna across six decades In 2003, Tom Stoppard was asked if he would ever write a "Jewis…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM[SHARE]

The Whip review " political drama exposes cost of abolishing slavery by Arifa Akbar

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonJuliet Gilkes Romero's play about the battle to end slave-owning in the British empire grows in intrigue and tension The Whip takes a moment in British histo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 11, 2020

All of It review " everywoman takes us from cradle to grave by Arifa Akbar

Royal Court, LondonAlistair McDowall's monologue " performed by a mesmerising Kate O'Flynn " channels female experience with warmth and humour Alistair McDowall joined forces with the direct…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:36PM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 9, 2020

Sex Education's Aimee Lou Wood: 'I confronted my own school bully' by Arifa Akbar

She loved her nude scenes in the Netflix hit but the West End's Uncle Vanya gave her stage fright. The Stockport star remembers being the class clown and tracking down her tormentor Aimee L…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 7, 2020

Death of England review " Rafe Spall dazzles in punkish state-of-the-nation address by Arifa Akbar

National Theatre, LondonSpall is like a man possessed in Roy Williams' and Clint Dyer's hair-raising dramatic monologue about the grief and grievances of a working-class white male In the se…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:18AM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 6, 2020

Albion review " Mike Bartlett's thorny study of politics and patriotism by Arifa Akbar

Almeida, LondonRevived by Rupert Goold just over two years after its premiere, this subtle drama has grown with new meaning In 2017, Rupert Goold directed a state-of-the-nation play by Mike …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 31, 2020

The Remains of Logan Dankworth review " a poet for our day by Arifa Akbar

Pound Arts Centre, Corsham Luke Wright's eloquent verse monologue pairs Brexit with the breakdown of a marriage Luke Wright is a poet for our day and today in particular. This dramatic monol…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Faustus: That Damned Woman review " devilish drama is far from divine by Arifa Akbar

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonChris Bush's female Faustus is original, ambitious and fantastically revisionist " but this bare-boned production fails to save its soul Doctor Faustus, as we know h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 28, 2020

The Sugar Syndrome review " Lucy Prebble's dark encounters still connect by Arifa Akbar

Orange Tree, LondonOscar Toeman directs a striking revival of the 2003 play about the relationship between a teenage girl and a paedophile Since Lucy Prebble's award-winning first play prem…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36PM[SHARE]
Monday, January 27, 2020

Dear Winnie review " thrilling homage to the flawed mother of South Africa by Arifa Akbar

KVS, BrusselsThe complicated legacy of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is fearlessly transformed into a radical and rousing musical When Winnie Madikizela-Mandela died in 2018, she was seen both a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 23, 2020

Uncle Vanya review " Toby Jones triumphs in perfect Chekhov by Arifa Akbar

Harold Pinter theatre, LondonIan Rickson's exquisite production is enlivened with expertly weighted humour and a modern beat Last year, David Hare teamed up with Rupert Everett to stage an U…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12PM[SHARE]

The Welkin review " Maxine Peake leads Lucy Kirkwood's jury of matrons by Arifa Akbar

Lyttelton, LondonTwelve bickering, bantering women must determine an accused murderer's pregnancy claim in this admirable drama The Welkin is a courtroom drama that sets itself up as a wink…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 22, 2020

The Sunset Limited review " Cormac McCarthy two-hander is all talk by Arifa Akbar

Boulevard theatre, LondonGary Beadle and Jasper Britton are excellent in this static and plotless existential treatise, but still can't transcend its dramatic limitations There is a flagrant…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM[SHARE]

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