Selected reviews by Arifa Akbar, chief theatre critic of The Guardian.
Arifa Akbar was appointed chief theatre critic at the Guardian in 2019, succeeding Michael Billington who stepped down as chief critic in December 2019.
Prior to taking on the chief role, Arifa had been reviewing for the Guardian for several years, and interviewing theatre talent.
Akbar previously worked as arts editor at Tortoise Media, and had worked for 15 years at the Independent, where she started as a news reporter before becoming arts correspondent and literary editor. She has also written for the Observer and the Financial Times, and is on the board of trustees of the Orwell Foundation.
More about Arifa Akbar:
The Guardian Bio & Articles | Twitter | Instagram
Great Expectations at the Garrick Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Eddie Izzard seduces in charismatic one-woman show" "Izzard uses humour instinctively, helped by Dickens’s love of the exaggerated or comic…
The Guardian
Aspects of Love at the Lyric Theatre (2023)
★★
"A preposterous blast from the past" "Michael Ball returns to sing Love Changes Everything, this time as the uncle, in…
The Guardian
Brokeback Mountain at the Soho Place Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Perfectly pitched staging of the heartbreaking love story" "The desolately poignant tale is brought into stark relief in Jonathan Butterell’s…
The Guardian
The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Gielgud and Burton battle it out" "Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn star in Jack Thorne’s play about the prickly pair’s…
The Guardian
Richard III at the Liverpool Playhouse / Rose Theatre Kingston (2023)
★★
"Adjoa Andoh’s maverick reimagining drags" (Liverpool Playhouse) "The actor and director pitches the antihero as a racial outsider. She is…
The Guardian
Retrograde at the Kiln Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Toxicity meets integrity in exceptional Sidney Poitier drama" "Ryan Calais Cameron’s terrific three-hander dramatises a meeting in 1955 Hollywood, mapping…
The Guardian
Ain't Too Proud - The Life And Times Of The Temptations at the Prince Edward Theatre (2023)
★★
"A Temptations jukebox musical by numbers" "This plodding account of the Motown band’s highs and lows is more than a…
The Guardian
The Secret Life of Bees at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Blazing songs light up civil rights drama" "A young white woman and her Black housekeeper flee across the American south…
The Guardian
Dancing at Lughnasa at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"An exquisite staging of Brian Friel’s evocative drama" "There are superb performances from a cast including Siobhán McSweeney and Ardal…
The Guardian
Hamnet at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (2023)
★★★
"Slick adaptation captures Shakespeare’s horrified unravelling" "Lolita Chakrabarti’s staging of Maggie O’Farrell’s moving novel about the death of the playwright’s…
The Guardian
A Little Life at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★★
"James Norton’s sexually abused lawyer is spared no misery" "Some called it torture porn, others a masterpiece. Ivo van Hove…
The Guardian
Black Superhero at the Royal Court Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Original queer drama with plenty of kapow" "Part satire, part serious drama, Danny Lee Wynter’s story of gay love and…
The Guardian
The Way Old Friends Do at the Park Theatre (2023)
★★★
"super troupers shine in a fun, frothy comedy (Park Theatre)" "Two friends put together an Abba tribute band and explore…
The Guardian
Further than the Furthest Thing at the Young Vic Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Slow-burn study of seclusion and secrecy" "Set on a volcanic island, this play goes through dormant spells but its themes…
The Guardian
Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Nicholas Hytner’s gamble pays off" "This immersive production of the New York musical has a bold design, superb singing and…
The Guardian
After the Act at the New Diorama Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Thatcher’s section 28 stirs a fiery protest musical" "Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett’s fizzing production traces the story of the…
The Guardian
The Merchant of Venice 1936 at the Watford Palace (2023)
★★★★
"Shylock takes on Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts" "A striking, slick adaptation of Shakespeare’s problematic play sees Tracy-Ann Oberman play a Jewish…
The Guardian
Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sheridan Smith disarms and dazzles with heart and soul" "Willy Russell’s 1986 monologue about a neglected woman’s midlife liberation is…
The Guardian
Women, Beware The Devil at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★
"Bizarre comedy horror is like Bridgerton on acid" "Directed by Rupert Goold, it comes with his characteristically clean, televisual glamour:…
The Guardian
Romeo and Julie at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A sweet spin on Shakespeare" "Gary Owen’s tale of star-crossed, working-class lovers in modern Cardiff offers existential questions and awkward…
The Guardian
Trouble in Butetown at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★
"Humanity and heroism in wartime Cardiff" "While Diana Nneka Atuona’s deft script could do with a final polish, its heart,…
The Guardian
Medea at the @sohoplace (2023)
★★★★
"Sophie Okonedo is magnificent as ancient Greece’s preeminent rebel woman" "Medea is as much victim as villain in Dominic Cooke’s…
The Guardian
Sylvia at the The Old Vic Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Storming show sets suffragettes to soul, funk and hip-hop" "Historical characters bust contemporary dance moves while the troubled relationship between…
The Guardian
Standing at the Sky's Edge at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Richard Hawley pulls on the heartstrings in his Sheffield opus" "This new musical traces the intersecting lives of three families…
The Guardian
Phaedra at the National Theatre (2023)
★★
"Simon Stone’s reimagining flitters from tragedy to comedy" "Janet McTeer plays a politician who falls for her dead lover’s son,…
The Guardian
The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sam Mendes’ banking saga returns with dividends" "Hadley Fraser, Nigel Lindsay and Michael Balogun are astonishing as the 18th-century bankers…
The Guardian
2:22 A Ghost Story at the Lyric Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Cheryl’s West End debut is a thunderous fright night" "The singer is convincing in the role (first played by Lily…
The Guardian
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman star in sharp drama" "Josie Rourke’s West End revival of Sam Steiner’s fringe hit really…
The Guardian
Sound of the Underground at the Royal Court Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Magnificent explosion of mesmerising drag" "A plot to kill RuPaul for dragging drag into the mainstream, followed by song and…
The Guardian
George Takei's Allegiance at the Charing Cross Theatre (2023)
★★
"Shocking history given musical uplift" "The Star Trek actor appears in an epic story of Japanese Americans interned after Pearl…
The Guardian
A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Paul Mescal brings a fierce and dangerous energy" "One of the year’s most hyped shows delivers with powerful performances from…
The Guardian
On The Ropes at the Park Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Windrush boxer’s tale of triumph and tragedy over 12 gut-wrenching rounds" "Vernon Vanriel’s extraordinary battles with addiction, poverty and the…
Watch on the Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★★
"Lillian Hellman’s call to arms is a must-see" "Patricia Hodge stars in Hellman’s play about a liberal American family confronted…
The Guardian
The Fir Tree at the Shakespeare's Globe (2022)
★★★★
"A must-see festive family fairy tale" "Hannah Khalil’s lo-fi retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 story cleverly weaves in humour,…
The Guardian
As You Like It at the @sohoplace (2022)
★★★★
"Josie Rourke leads us into the liberating delight of Arden" "Martha Plimpton and the whole ensemble shine in Shakespeare’s nuanced…
The Guardian
Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre (2022)
★★
"Humbug hoedown" "Parton’s music is as warming as ever but a snowfall of schmaltz and minimal menace make this Dickens…
The Guardian
Sons of the Prophet at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★
"Overstuffed drama by The Humans’ Stephen Karam" "There’s some promising material in this tale of a struggling Lebanese American family…
The Guardian
A Christmas Carol at the Rose Theatre Kingston (2022)
★★★★
"Glorious musical version of Dickens’s festive treat" "Charles Dickens takes to the stage and Ebenezer Scrooge is a woman with…
The Guardian
Mother Goose at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★
"Zany Ian McKellen rules over a fluffy affair" "If you only come for Ian McKellen, you won’t be disappointed. He…
The Guardian
Mandela at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★
"A Madiba musical with fridge-magnet philosophy" "A strong cast cannot conceal the thinness of this superficial account of South Africa’s…
The Guardian
Kerry Jackson at the National Theatre (2022)
★
"Fay Ripley’s lively striver is riddled with working-class cliches" "April De Angelis’s comedy about a leave-voting entrepreneur in a gentrified…
The Guardian
Hex at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Musical Sleeping Beauty casts a darkly dazzling spell" "No theatrical effect is spared in this emotional show, which returns to…
The Guardian
Othello at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Clint Dyer makes this tragedy feel utterly new" "This Othello plays out as a traditional thriller that occasionally veers into…
The Guardian
Best of Enemies at the Noel Coward Theatre (2022)
★★★★
" Stylish staging of a landmark TV clash" "The 1968 debate between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley Jr is…
The Guardian
A Sherlock Carol at the Marylebone Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"The detective takes on Dickens in a fresh festive mashup" "There’s only one sleuth in Victorian London who can get…
The Guardian
Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial at the Wyndham's Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Courtroom panto" "Laura Dos Santos and Lucy May Barker are excellent as the frenemies in a queasy verbatim drama" "This…
The Guardian
The Sex Party at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2022)
★★
"Spiky comedy fails to satisfy" "There’s tension in Terry Johnson’s tale of four couples meeting for sex and nibbles but…
The Guardian
Blackout Songs at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Drunk and disorderly exploration of love and addiction" "Joe White’s romantic tragedy is a brave and original depiction of the…
The Guardian
Mary at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Douglas Henshall’s courtier defends a Queen in quick-fire debate" "Rona Munro’s engaging debate drama has some thrilling exchanges as three…
The Guardian
Tammy Faye – A New Musical at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Elton John’s hymn to biblical kitsch" "Songs belt out deliriously in this romp through rise and fall of the Bakker…
The Guardian
King Hamlin at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Trapped teens face up to lives at knife-point" "Excellent performances enhance this story of three young boys hurtling towards gang…
The Guardian
A Single Man at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★
"Isherwood’s melancholy mourner falls apart in 60s California" "This adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel about a gay man grieving for…
The Guardian
Local Hero at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★
"Musical misses the magic of Bill Forsyth’s classic" "In spite of a nifty set and new songs, this story of…
The Guardian
My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Dazzling staging of the Studio Ghibli classic" "The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production has astonishing puppetry, magical music and huge emotional…
The Guardian
Good at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"David Tennant is magnificent in chilling drama" "Revived with a superb cast, CP Taylor’s play about a professor embracing nazism…
The Guardian
The Doctor at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"A repeat prescription for acute intellectual stimulation" "Robert Icke’s combative 2019 play about medical ethics, identity politics and antisemitism returns…
The Guardian
Iphigenia in Splott at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★★★
"A shattering modern classic that distils all our troubles" "Gary Owen’s magnificent one-woman monologue brings Greek tragedy to Cardiff and…
The Guardian
John Gabriel Borkman at the Bridge Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Simon Russell Beale magnetic as the shamed alpha-male banker" "Turning to a lesser-staged work by Ibsen might seem risky, but…
The Guardian
Jews. In Their Own Words at the Royal Court (2022)
★★★
"Appalling revelations in a gallop through centuries of bigotry" "Jonathan Freedland has turned 180,000 words drawn from interviews into a…
The Guardian
The Crucible at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Stylish restaging is all beauty and no bite" "Director Lyndsey Turner misses the opportunity to give Arthur Miller’s allegory modern…
The Guardian
Eureka Day at the The Old Vic (2022)
★★★
"Helen Hunt is an anti-vaxxer on the attack in anti-woke satire" "What begins as a broad takedown of the liberal…
The Guardian
The Wonderful World of Dissocia at the Theatre Royal Stratford East (2022)
★★★★
"Whimsical and brutal" "At first, Anthony Neilson’s play is a bewildering affair, but its sombre aftermath imparts understanding with crushing…
The Guardian
Handbagged at the Kiln Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Sparks fly at the Queen’s audiences with the Iron Lady" "Moira Buffini’s clever political comedy returns, educating a new generation…
The Guardian
The Snail House at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★
"Richard Eyre’s debut play takes on too much" "This debut, which he also directs, is a family drama cum state-of-the-nation…
The Guardian
The Clinic at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★
"Culture wars erupt at a birthday party" "Dipo Baruwa-Etti’s early dialogue shimmers with quick wit, intelligence and delightful touches (Happy…
The Guardian
Antigone at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★
"A poetic tragedy about modern British Muslim life" "Inua Ellams updates the Sophoclean drama into a beguiling piece about faith…
The Guardian
Silence at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★
"A potent and poetic telling of the partition of India" "The stage adaptation of Kavita Puri’s extraordinary oral history project…
The Guardian
Who Killed My Father at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★★★
"A powerful study of class, cruelty and kin" "Hans Kesting is spellbinding as an anguished man facing up to his…
The Guardian
Ride - A New Musical at the Charing Cross Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Jaunty new musical takes cyclist’s feat for a spin" "This soulful celebration of adventurer Annie Londonderry takes time to get…
The Guardian
All's Well That Ends Well at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon (2022)
★★★
"Problem play gets a tasty Gen Z makeover" "Rosie Sheehy dazzles as a woman calling the shots in this feverish…
The Guardian
Into The Woods at the Theatre Royal Bath (2022)
★★★
"Terry Gilliam’s rollicking take on Sondheim’s ‘fairytale collision’" "The ex-Python’s production is visually enticing, playful and dreamlike but doesn’t quite…
The Guardian
The Trials at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★
"Tomorrow’s children hold us to account for climate crimes" "In a near-future world on fire, a jury of 12 young…
The Guardian
The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A dark, riveting revamp" "This exhilarating production of CS Lewis’s timeless tale delivers spellbinding spectacle, wartime drama and perfect puppetry"…
The Guardian
Chasing Hares at the Young Vic (2022)
★★★★
"Factory drama moulds its own subversive power play" "Sonali Bhattacharyya intriguingly exposes the exploitative dynamics of the global gig economy…
The Guardian
101 Dalmatians at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★
"Puppyish enthusiasm can’t save a patchy production" "This family musical and adorable puppets will keep the kids happy, but parents…
The Guardian
Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Screwball Shakespeare goes with a swing" "John Heffernan shines brightest as a dorkish Benedick; Katherine Parkinson’s Beatrice is wry and…
The Guardian
Crazy For You at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Spine-tingling musical is a giddy thrill" "Instantly infectious melodies, superb choreography and irresistible comedy are met with astonishing performances in…
The Guardian
Peaky Blinders: The Rise at the Camden Garrison (2022)
★★
"Immersed in a criminally flimsy plot" "Fans of the TV series may enjoy the period detail and atmosphere, but this…
The Guardian
Patriots at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Peter Morgan’s compelling study of Russian dissidence" "Rupert Goold’s production is ultimately entertaining but choppy, taking time to settle before…
The Guardian
The Seagull at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Woodchip-walled Chekhov is hypnotic" "Jamie Lloyd’s radical, stripped-back, strangely gripping production, using Anya Reiss’s cool adaptation, might well be aspiring…
The Guardian
Richard III reviews - RSC Stratford at the Stratford Upon Avon (2022)
★★★
"Shakespeare’s supervillain breezes through the bloodbath" "Arthur Hughes is the scheming sociopath in a production of magisterial stagecraft that builds…
The Guardian
Mad House at the The Ambassadors Theatre (2022)
★★★
"David Harbour and Bill Pullman spar in dark family psychodrama" "Under the direction of Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the first half…
The Guardian
The Gunpowder Plot at the Tower Vaults London (2022)
★★★
"A thrilling live adventure is marred by moments of bewildering VR in this immersive voyage back to 1605" "In the…
The Guardian
Britannicus at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★★
"Political drama is deadly serious but full of sass" "Timberlake Wertenbaker’s take on Racine’s version of ancient Rome is replete…
The Guardian
The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★
"Amy Adams’s West End debut fails to find its heart" "Tennessee Williams’s story of yearning, passion and despair never puts…
The Guardian
Legally Blonde The Musical at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Joyously camp revamp is in the pink" "An overhaul of the original’s gender politics, plenty of Gen-Z touchpoints and a…
The Guardian
The House of Shades at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Anne-Marie Duff gives a toxic tour de force" "Beth Steel’s large canvas reflects brawny ambition and magnificent fearlessness as the…
The Guardian
My Fair Lady (2022)
★★★
"Perfectly elegant, ever so sedate" "This garlanded production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s musical, fresh from Broadway, is…
The Guardian
Much Ado About Nothing at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Gaiety abounds in the Globe’s great garden party" "Lucy Bailey’s ambling production of Shakespeare’s comedy, set in northern Italy on…
The Guardian
Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Mark Rylance’s riveting return as ‘Rooster’ Byron" "Problematic gags limit the power of Jez Butterworth’s layered drama about myths and…
The Guardian
Prima Facie at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Jodie Comer on formidable form in roaring drama" "The Killing Eve star makes a masterful West End debut in Suzie…
The Guardian
The Corn is Green at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"An inspirational heart-warmer in praise of good education" "Emlyn Williams’ 1938 play is a kind of Billy Elliot of the…
The Guardian
Marys Seacole at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★
"Mystifying drama about caring through the ages" "Despite strong performances, Jackie Sibblies Drury’s play zigzags so much that it overshadows…
The Guardian
Punchdrunk: The Burnt City at the One Cartridge Place (2022)
★★★
"Spectacle eclipses story in siege of Troy epic" "This immersive retelling of Greek tragedies is stylish and atmospheric but lacks…
The Guardian
Scandaltown at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★
"Smut and silliness in modern Restoration comedy" "Mike Bartlett’s rambunctious capers with types including Lady Susan Climber and Matt Eton…
The Guardian
The 47th at the The Old Vic (2022)
★★★
"Bertie Carvel is devilishly good but this Trumpian satire feels too soon" "Mike Bartlett’s script turns US politics into Shakepearean…
The Guardian
To Kill A Mockingbird at the Gielgud Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Harper Lee would approve of snappy Sorkin update" "Rafe Spall is a dignified Atticus Finch in Aaron Sorkin’s smooth and…
The Guardian
The Human Voice at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★
"Ruth Wilson fails to connect in Jean Cocteau’s tale of despair" "Ivo van Hove’s production divests this drama of emotional…
The Guardian
Cock at the Ambassadors Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Jonathan Bailey and Taron Egerton locked in a love triangle" "Jade Anouka’s character causes an existential earthquake in Marianne Elliott’s…
The Guardian
Maria Friedman & Friends - Legacy at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2022)
★★★
"Who’s up for a cabaret lock-in?" "Looking back at the work of Sondheim, Hamlisch and Legrand, with glorious songs and…
The Guardian
The Collaboration at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★★
"Warhol and Basquiat mix paint and trade blows" "Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope excel as the art world legends in…
The Guardian
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre) (2021)
★★★★
"Eddie Redmayne is electric in this blinder of a show" "Redmayne and Jessie Buckley ‘Willkommen’ us into this Weimar-era Berlin…
The Guardian
The Book of Dust at the Bridge Theatre (2021)
★★★★
"A theatrical marvel. Nicholas Hytner brings a dazzling wizard’s touch to this adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy tale" "The stage…
The Guardian
Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) at the Criterion Theatre (2021)
★★★★
"Rough-hewn but joyous musical take on the classic novel works in everything from Carly Simon to Chris de Burgh" "As…
The Guardian
A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story at the Nottingham Playhouse (2021)
★★★
"Mark Gatiss’s witty dash through Dickens" "Gatiss’s delayed rework amps up the ghostly effects while drawing out the overlooked dark…
The Guardian
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical at the Lyric Theatre (2021)
★★★
"It’s the music that carries the emotional weight in this tale of love, loss and roots rock, starring the superb…
The Guardian
Back to the Future at the Adelphi Theatre (2021)
★★★
"The car’s the star: this is a splashy theatre-film mashup, with gravity-defying effects, cute quirks and offbeat gags" "The cast…
The Guardian
Frozen The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (2021)
★★★★★
"Stunning musical extravaganza creates its own magic" "Beyond the visual thrills and powerful ballads, this adaptation brings an unexpected depth…
The Guardian
Lungs at the The Old Vic (2019)
★★★★
"Claire Foy and Matt Smith shine in climate crisis drama" "Duncan Macmillan’s two-hander is a frenetic portrait of flawed love…
The Guardian
📷 Main photo: Critics - Arifa Akbar
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