Arifa Akbar

“Anderson and Crudup can hold their own against that landmark adaptation of the play about George, a middle-aged history professor with a sagging academic libido, and Martha, his frustrated, ceaselessly needling wife.”

“James Graham’s high-wire writing brings economic theory to life and connects it with art and fulfilment in this polished, ravishingly staged story of John Maynard Keynes.”

“But its combination of boredom and shocks ultimately feels confusing”

“It is excitingly staged theatre with an ambition as bold as Yvonne’s, seeking to say so much about women, race and the media that still feels incredibly timely.”

“As a double bill, of sorts, the first is the showcase, not only of its two central performers but the power of performance itself.”

“Her performance, and Fall’s production as a whole, proves that this period comedy of manners is eternally resonant.”

“Sadly, the drug-addled escapades and illegal highs here look about as dangerous as a double-dose of Gaviscon.”

“It’s a shame it stays at a single, fever-pitched high, flattening the emotional drama.”

“This is an uproarious musical roadmap, of sorts, reminding us of ways to love each other, and a reminder that to overcome our fears, we must talk to those we are fearful of.”

“As a production it is imperfect but heroic in all it is trying to say about the way we live, how we might live differently and escape the toxicity of the digital world.”

“For all its promise, the purpose of the gender reversal here feels unresolved.”

“It stays blithe for perhaps too long but gathers force as it becomes more serious.”

“Every number is performed with such physical and vocal exuberance by the cast of actor-puppeteers, especially the spectacular Harrison and Benjamin, that it really does seem as if the puppets are doing the talking, singing and shagging.”

“Pinnock really has made this story of soiled inheritance, unrecorded Black histories and racial appropriation an enjoyable experience.”

“A moral story at its core, the story builds to the mutual destruction of both its central villains, by which time this stylish production has finally found its dark, menacing heart.”

“What makes the production effective, ultimately, in spite of the overbearing directorial stamp, are the two central performances.”

“In the end, John Proctor Is the Villain doesn’t feel like a show designed to goose youth-audience ticket sales; it feels like one that will engage and electrify a teenage audience, and plenty of adults too.”

“The show comes alive with every song.”

“This goes on a little too long as well, although it is likable enough.”

“But despite the speed, the atmosphere stays sedate, with none of the fever required, and no peril whatsoever.”

“In this production, originally staged at Chichester Festival theatre, it just feels old-fashioned.”

“The first half is pulled down by the weight of its laboured reinvention.”

“It’s like a complicated piece of algebra, exquisite in its difficulties, unsolvable to the end.”

“This is a tear-jerker with 100% heart, 0% sentimentality.”

“You feel her vulnerability, especially in the first act, but the emotional connection lessens as the drama becomes more high-pitched and surreal.”

“It is such an overheated sophomoric comedy that it becomes exhausting to watch, even at 90 minutes.”

“Ultimately, the political message speaks loudest, harnessing the McCarthyist fear of then and the Trumpian terror of today.”

“But it seems old-fashioned in this faithfully period production.”

“This is the new Mary Poppins: a well-known story imaginatively staged, immaculately performed and utterly winning.”

“There is so much alchemy here – it just dazzles and dazzles.”

“Sometimes the dialogue gives way to monologues on life and death that sit oddly against the domestic realism.”

“It’s impressive but you are not always swept in.”

“This is unquestionably dramatic subject matter with resonances to so many news stories on disappeared children, but it just does not cut deeply enough.”

“The round shows Mary from all sides, in theory, yet you do not see her clearly at all.”

“Its biggest highlight is Adrian Lester’s Cyrano, who gives this production its sublimely wounded soul.”

“So, a well-put together, beautifully choreographed production but one with a frustrating emotional vacuum at its centre.”

“But just as the Artful Dodger seems like a misplaced reference within Euripidean tragedy, so the script often sounds off-key: unfocused, tonally untextured, its knockabout comedy smothering the emotional core of the play.”

“The show’s many deliberate cultural tropes and stereotypes are exaggerated to the nth-degree.”

“The Book of Mormon is far, far cleverer, far kinder, far more nuanced than that, and one of its many surprises is that it sent an enraptured, ecstatic audience home with an odd sense of having come, somehow, to really like Mormons.”

“Certainly his creepingly explosive turn in Shaan Sahota’s debut drama is unmissable.”

“If you feel denied of the subtleties of story, character and commentary on populist power, you will still have an eye-popping night out.”

“So there is a stolidity to the story, as if an ancient tablet of stone has taken the place of a flesh and blood heart.”

“The play flares fully to life in their duologues but the scenes around them feel filled with extraneous, thinly drawn characters and plot.”

“It is full of adventurous imagination, with some signature Sondheim sparks, but the trouble spots are still clear to see.”

“This is innovative theatre, shining with intelligence, which brings richness to our cultural tussle with the problem of ancient statues and their rightful place in the world.”

“There are moments of great intensity, mostly in the scenes featuring Fleetwood, and real candescence to the writing at its best.”

“Fresh from Broadway, this production encapsulates the worst of peacockingly splashy entertainment – the kind whose soul has been suctioned out in the making.”

“But this play never quite delivers in its dramatic power or its psychological insights.”

“Daly is still a charming stage presence and his Byronic, gym-bunny tw”

“But this is a paler version of the film, laden with the retro ‘naff’ factor but having less creativity and soul.”

“However intimate the conversation becomes, the chemistry in this throuple never quite ignites.”

“Hysterical, knowingly corny and as frothy as sea foam, Tye Blue’s production has a fantastically brash, devil-may-care spirit and sparkling performances.”

“This lacks both of those qualities.”

“This production achieves the dubious feat of turning an edgy, absurdist story into broad entertainment with accessible laughs, along with a few topical references and excellent performances all round.”

“An old play is masterfully analysed and made newly devastating.”

“The performances are powerful but the setup feels so overbearingly orchestrated that you do not feel the characters’ passion or anger.”

“Smith-Cameron really is the heart and soul of this production, for all of Rylance’s charisma.”

“Giant shows a necessary bravery in taking it on.”

“The comedy works in itself, and so do the dramatic moments, but the two seem slightly disconnected.”

“Dominic Cooke’s production is immaculately performed and slowly, beautifully life-affirming, with humour that reins in the schmaltz.”

“It might be flawed but it is charismatic, needling theatre.”

“As a play of ideas, Mnemonic is whimsical and diffuse.”

“How bleak – but also brilliantly done.”

“There are many other meals in this lavishly imaginative surtitled adaptation from Japan, which is meticulous in its visual detail and choreography, delightful in its puppetry, both meditative and whirling in its speed, and packed full of comedy and adventure.”

“Their seriousness gives the story a lugubrious depth but also undercuts Dickens’ satire and levity.”

“It is quick-witted and amusing though it never deepens enough for the emotional punches to land.”

“Some scenes glitter with dark energy, and are truly tragic.”

“It may be the most unusual thing on the London stage right now and is captivating in its glittering strangeness.”

“Nye is a too full, yet too simplified, survey of the personal and political elements in Bevan’s world, with some high-pitched moments accompanied by syrupy music.”

“This is one of the best West End musicals around.”

“But where is the story, surprise, character study and ethical debate on such celebrity endorsed acts of 'charidy'?”

“The production seems effectively to coast on the fame of its two stars.”

“This is breathtaking theatre with its own arresting imagination.”

“Ultimately, the stylised elements smother the play’s intensity.”

“Dave Malloy’s songs (with lyrics by Malloy and Kirkwood) sound as if they are still in development, sometimes oddly tuneless and accompanied by thin piano notes or a stomping orchestra.”

“What saves the production is its stupendous sense of scale and spectacle, combining to become something of a cross between Soul of Shaolin, Cirque du Soleil and The Lion King.”

“The writing has sophistication and some jokes are funny but this is the epitome of theatre as light entertainment.”

“As a production it is packed with action and deft in its fight scenes, but remains rather flat, and perhaps unwilling to plumb this play’s tragic depths.”

“But too much remains unexplored in a schematic second act that veers off in a different direction and flattens out the slightly surreal, eerie edges of the first act.”

“So why, with all these riches, does it leave this critic so removed and restless?”

“But before that there is a baggy beginning.”

“Those who come to see Scott on stage will not leave disappointed.”

“The production feels strangely like a museum piece despite its contemporary visual elements.”

“It is a lovable tearjerker nonetheless with a disarming sweetness and bearing all the signs of being an immense crowd-pleaser.”

“This is a storm of a show which can easily be re-envisaged for the West End.”

“It is not nearly as high-powered in its special effects as a Disney adaptation but just as dazzling in its magic realism.”

“Aaron Sorkin finds effective ways in his confident adaptation, drawing out the lawyer’s moral inconsistencies without undermining his goodness completely.”

“If this show is sold on his star turn, we get more than our money’s worth with his blinding performance – in this blinder of a show.”