The Buddha of Suburbia production photos_ April 2024_2024_Photo by Steve Tanner _c_ RSC_372352

'An intoxicating five-star show' - read the press reviews for Emma Rice's vibrant production of Hanif Kureishi's award-winning novel

  • Running time:

    2 hrs 50 mins (including a 20 mins interval)

★★★★★TIMES

'An intoxicating five-star show'

'This glorious play, studded with comic sex scenes and period songs...manages to combine the knowing satire of the original with an extraordinarily fluid theatrical language'

'RSC debutant Dee Ahluwalia, resplendent in tight flares, delivers an astonishingly assured performance as Karim'

★★★★★TELEGRAPH

'Emma Rice has nailed it'

'Leaves you on a rare high'

'This is a zesty, often tongue-in-cheek, feelgood entertainment'

★★★★★MORNING STAR

'A delightful production of the classic novel that emanates a sense of warmth and love'

'At the centre of a brilliant cast is Dee Ahluwalia’s Karim'

★★★★★STRATFORD HERALD

'You don’t even want to think about missing this show'

'Every actor...is utterly brilliant'

'You won’t see any theatre more rollicking and boisterous than this'

'A marvellously clever production'

★★★★FINANCIAL TIMES

'A joyous staging of Hanif Kureishi’s novel'

'An effervescent piece of theatre — upbeat, funny, ridiculous and tender'

'There’s a lot of sex — all of it delivered mischievously and with liberal and eye-popping use of fruit'

'At its heart, Ahluwalia is outstanding'

★★★★GUARDIAN

'A warm, ebullient production, lovable and cheeky'

'Characteristically playful, with an abundant sense of theatricality'

'It is a crowdpleaser... Angela Carter hailed Kureishi’s novel for its humour and heart: this show comes with bundles of both.'

★★★★THE STAGE

'The zesty, raucous energy of Rice’s distinctive style...nicely matches the pinwheeling plot and unrestrained humour of Kureishi’s writing.

'A top-flight cast, nimble staging and deliciously retro soundtrack and costuming ensures this is a good night out'

'Dee Ahluwalia...makes a captivating and charismatic Karim, warmly grabbing the audience by the hand and pulling us into his jam-packed coming-of-age story'

★★★★DAILY MAIL

‘Charming, funny and joyfully bawdy'

‘Rice’s production bulges hilariously with sex aids and ‘rude fruit’...it also throbs with nostalgia in dance routines summoning music from the era’

★★★★BIRMINGHAM LIVE

'Packed with energy, bawdy humour and glorious music, this colourful adaption of Hanif Kureishi’s novel is a riot of fun from beginning to end'

'An absolute abundance of physical humour, clever choregraphy and lots of fun'