All stories by Arifa Akbar on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Romeo and Juliet review " overbearing directorial stamp is saved by dazzling cast by Arifa Akbar

Sadie Sink and Noah Jupe's pure chemistry perfectly encapsulates the urgent and uncompromising nature of first love Has the conveyor belt from screen-to-stage celebrity turned full circle wh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 26, 2026

Henry V review " once more unto the breach at the RSC, as Alfred Enoch leads the charge by Arifa Akbar

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-Upon-AvonCo-artistic director Tamara Harvey stages a well-acted production that never hits as hard as it should The bellicose patriotism in this, the las…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:48AM[SHARE]

Teeth 'n' Smiles review " Self Esteem makes a mesmeric rock star but the drama doesn't dazzle by Arifa Akbar

Duke of York's theatre, LondonFifty years since David Hare's play was first staged, Rebecca Lucy Taylor is inspired casting as a singer who refuses to go out without a bang David Hare's 1975…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:48AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 18, 2026

'It's brutal right now': one-woman powerhouse Maimuna Memon on the surprise aftermath of winning an Olivier by Arifa Akbar

The writer, actor and singer won an award for her role in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Then everything went silent. As the rising star returns in her very own musical, she hi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM[SHARE]

ROI (Return on Investment) review " hectic venture capitalism drama is a heady brew by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, LondonUS businessman-turned-playwright Aaron Loeb combines medical tech concepts with knotty dilemmas and Mamet-esque dialogue An earnest research scientist turns up at a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM[SHARE]

Summerfolk review " lazy days of passion and privilege at Gorky's doomed dacha by Arifa Akbar

Olivier theatre, LondonWriters Nina and Moses Raine add comedy and raunch to Maxim Gorky's satire of the holidaying elite In 1898, Maxim Gorky wrote a fan letter to Anton Chekhov. Gorky was …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 8, 2026

The Mesmerist review " Rufus Hound magically unravels a family mystery by Arifa Akbar

Watford Palace theatrePaying tribute to his grandfather whose 1983 show at the same venue lasted only one night the actor and comedian skilfully unveils a big reveal worthy of Inside No 9 Th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 5, 2026

The Manningtree Witches review " Ava Pickett's gripping follow-up to Tudor hit 1536 by Arifa Akbar

Mercury theatre, Colchester The targets of the infamous 17th-century 'witchfinder general' narrate a powerful play based on AK Blakemore's novel 'It does not matter what is true," a teenager…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Broken Glass review " Arthur Miller's shattering drama chills with new political resonance by Arifa Akbar

Young Vic, LondonJordan Fein's revival finds hypnotic power in Miller's 1994 play, as Pearl Chanda and Eli Gelb bring haunting emotional force to a story of paralysis and denial Some might s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Ukraine Unbroken review " five searing dramas about the history and horror of Russia's invasion by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, London Nicolas Kent directs a set of short plays by British and Ukrainian writers giving devastating vignettes from the conflict Nicolas Kent's concept for a series of short …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:01PM[SHARE]
Sunday, March 1, 2026

16 Postcodes review " one-woman patchwork psychogeography of London by Arifa Akbar

King's Head theatre, LondonJessica Regan creates a collaborative collage of the capital and its romantic encounters, eccentric flatmates and eye-watering rents Jessica Regan's promising one-…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 27, 2026

Top Gs Like Me review " dark comedy sees Andrew Tate-style influencer tackling wrestlers, health gurus and sexual assault by Arifa Akbar

Royal & Derngate, NorthamptonEmerging playwright Samson Hawkins takes on toxic influencers in an exuberantly directed drama with echoes of TV's Adolescence The audience enters through a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Evening All Afternoon review " Erin Kellyman makes blazing stage debut as spiky stepdaughter by Arifa Akbar

Donmar Warehouse, London The 28 Years Later star joins the impressive Anastasia Hille in Anna Ziegler's two-hander about grief and family There are many ingenious ideas in Anna Ziegler's spa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PM[SHARE]

Bird Grove review " George Eliot's true story embellished in a tender drama by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, London Elizabeth Dulau is terrific in Alexi Kaye Campbell's new play as the young woman set to become a daring pioneer in fiction and real life This is a play about George…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM[SHARE]
Friday, February 20, 2026

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind review " Malawian boy's amazing famine-beating creation inspires a rousing musical by Arifa Akbar

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon After a book, a film and a Ted Talk, William Kamkwamba's heroically inventive response to floods, drought and starvation is now delivered with energetic son…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:01PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Deep Azure review " musical marvels in Chadwick Boseman's hip-hop tragedy by Arifa Akbar

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonThe Black Panther actor's melding of social commentary and Shakespearean themes is sometimes opaque yet undeniably poetic Chadwick Boseman was not only an acco…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM[SHARE]

Dracula review " Cynthia Erivo's magnificent modern bloodsucker is defanged in one-woman show by Arifa Akbar

Noël Coward theatre, LondonDeploying accents and wigs, the Wicked star takes on all Bram Stoker's characters, but the atmosphere lacks the fever or diabolicism required Are people born wi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 17, 2026

'I wasn't ambitious until I was 60!' Gary Wilmot on comedy, panto, musicals " and his Beckett-style new play by Arifa Akbar

He left school at 15 and worked as a scaffolder. Then success on New Faces launched him to stardom " and he's been a panto and musicals sensation ever since. So what made him write a comedy …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 15, 2026

Dreamscape review " dazzling hip-hop drama reclaims vital spirit of teenager slain by police by Arifa Akbar

Omnibus theatre, London Inspired by the 1998 shooting of Tyisha Miller, the lost hopes and memories of a young Black woman " played beautifully by Jada Evelyn Ramsey " are explored through w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 13, 2026

Shadowlands review " Hugh Bonneville charms in a weepie that's as creaky as an old library by Arifa Akbar

Aldwych theatre, LondonWilliam Nicholson's take on CS Lewis's marriage to an American divorcee should have you in bits but it fails to feel as eviscerating as it should The drama of love and…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06PM[SHARE]

Here There Are Blueberries review " devastating anatomy of the truth behind Nazi snapshots by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal Stratford East, London Using photographs from an archive album of Auschwitz staff relaxing, this searing drama builds into an unforgettable inquiry This play is based around a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Man and Boy review " Rattigan's murky reunion staged in silver-screen style by Arifa Akbar

Dorfman theatre, LondonA financier facing corruption charges is reunited with his son in this high-concept mishmash of screwball comedy and financial thriller The National Theatre is certain…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 9, 2026

'I'm not blaming Bond for screwing up my career': Maryam d'Abo on playing a thieving writer on stage " and a sniper cellist in 007 by Arifa Akbar

The former Bond girl talks about her new role as a top writer accused of stealing a story as her actor husband is cancelled " and why she has no regrets about her time aboard the 007 rollerc…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 8, 2026

Dance of Death review " spark and mischief as humorously horrible couple wish each other dead by Arifa Akbar

Orange Tree theatre, LondonRichard Eyre's adaptation brings comedy and tenderness alongside Strindberg's original savagery August Strindberg's portrait of marriage is unremittingly bleak in …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:01PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 6, 2026

It Walks Around the House at Night review " jump scares and spine tingles as a pretend ghost gets really spooked by Arifa Akbar

Minerva theatre, Chichester Award-winning writer Tim Foley's frightfest brings an out of work actor to a country manor to burnish the myth of its resident wraith. Beware of the silhouetted h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 5, 2026

Arcadia review " love, gardening and Euclidian geometry collide in Tom Stoppard's cosmic masterpiece by Arifa Akbar

Old Vic, LondonStuffed with knowledge and often regarded as the playwright's finest work, this drama's sheer cleverness gleams in an exuberant production When Tom Stoppard was asked what thi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM[SHARE]

The Ophiolite review " a family at war over patriarch's dying wishes by Arifa Akbar

Theatro Technis, London In Philip de Voni's ambitious debut play, a clash over funeral rites exposes deep divisions in a British-Cypriot extended family Ancient Greek literature teems with c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Maggots review " tragic tale of a death undiscovered for more than a year by Arifa Akbar

Bush theatre, London Farah Najib's play tells the story of an isolated woman who dies at home and considers the community's responsibility The opening quote to Farah Najib's drama tells us t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06PM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 1, 2026

American Psycho review " yuppies making a killing offers a chilling origin story for our corrupt times by Arifa Akbar

Almeida theatre, LondonIn a bloody, brilliant, full circle Rupert Goold bows out as artistic director of the Almeida with a timely revival of the musical he first staged here in 2013 The ter…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18PM[SHARE]

My Brother's a Genius review " neurodivergent twins' dreams take flight in poetry, grime and dance by Arifa Akbar

Playhouse, SheffieldTwo siblings growing up in a high-rise search for escape and liberation in this idiosyncratic and infectious drama with a beautiful script by Debris Stevenson Debris Stev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:42PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 30, 2026

The Tempest review " Tim Crouch's high-concept treatment roughs up the magic by Arifa Akbar

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London Some spells are cast by this show, in which the director stars as Prospero, but it wearingly replays the same tricks The Tempest seems like the perfect Shakes…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM[SHARE]

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