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Prayers and thoughts: The Inseparables @Finboroughtheatre

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The Inseparables brings Simone de Beauvoir’s posthumously published novel to life. It traces a lifelong friendship between Sylve and Andrée, two unconventional girls who grew up in a stifling world where being a woman meant getting married or entering a convent. With a quick pace and engaging performances from the two leads, it is a journey back into the 20th century that captures two unconventional women trapped in a conventional world that will have you reflecting on how much or little things have moved on in the last century. It’s currently playing at the Finborough Theatre .  We’re introduced to Sylve praying for her country, France, to be saved from the war and indoctrinated into the world of faith and obedience. But too smart for all that, her life was full of detached guilt and boredom. But when she meets Andrée, a new arrival at her school, she is struck by how different she is from everyone else. She was burned in a fire and had a passion for life that nobody else she knew...
Music: LSO and Elgar

One of the nice things about London is that

  • You can go online Sunday morning and see what's on, and book a ticket to see an evening of Elgar. It was the Elgar Violin Concerto and Symphony No 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox (conductor) and Tasmin Little (soloist for the violin concerto). It was a fabulous performance.
  • You can get a cheap seat at the Barbican to see it. Mine was £5 because I couldn't see the full orchestra, but I could see the double basses very well (for what that was worth) and the sound was excellent.
  • You can show up to the concert wearing any old thing including sandals with socks. I didn't, but the man next to me was in sandals. He was with his wife and they looked like they had been together for some time so that may explain why they let themselves go.

Incidentally I wore a smart new jacket that I picked up yesterday for a song while doing some retail therapy. Forgot to bring glasses however so I have no idea if I was being noticed...

One thing about London audiences, they can be a noisy lot. Tonight there was:

  • General coughing and spluttering throughout the performance. I wondered given the average age of the attendees whether there was an ambulance on standby as some didn't sound like they were going to make it to 10pm.
  • Someone's alarm going off for at least thirty seconds during the second movement of the Symphony that the acoustics of the Barbican Hall picked up perfectly for everyone to hear.
  • Someone perfectly timing a loud AAAAH-CHOO! just as the music went quiet. If people are that comfortable to sneeze loudly they should be encouraged to burp and fart perhaps as well.

You also have to pity the performers. As the moment they finish many people in the audience leap to their feet. Not to give a standing ovation, but to get out. It has become a growing trend I have noticed at various venues here in London. No applause just a stampede out the building. Afterall, parking can be such a bitch...

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