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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...

Theatre: Eurydice

Vox Pops Dr 3 F9 480p (16x9) from David Newell on Vimeo.


Eurydice takes greek mythology and gives it a twist focusing on the loss, memory and redemption in this production at the Young Vic. Maybe all this death and loos has been putting people off from seeing it as Saturday night's audience could have been larger. The play itself is not bad at all and full of mildly surreal scenarios with water that can leave a lot to your imagination.

The play opens with Eurydice and Orpheus about to go for a swim and then off to get married. Meanwhile her father is writing letters of advice to her for her wedding to her but she is not getting them. On her wedding night she leaves the party lured away by a man who says he has one of his letters... Soon she is in the underworld and Orpheus is trying to get in touch with her... One of the problems with this play is that there is no sense about how much Eurydice and Orpheus like each other... Sure they are practically naked with swimming goggles at the start, but you get the impression Orpheus is Mr Right Now rather than Mr Right. Eurydice seems ambivalent and Orpheus seems more interested in his music...

Still, the focus of this play seems more about memory and loss and the scenes in the underworld are great, including a young boy on a tricycle and three actors playing stones who manage to speak in unison throughout. And at 80 minutes long (with no interval) this was a whimsical enough diversion for the evening... Go for the meditation on memory... The relationships probably won't entice you as much... It runs until 5 June before touring and discounts are available (including through facebook)

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