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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...

Opera: Macbeth



The Royal Opera's production of Macbeth has its final performance on Saturday. It is a great production with a strong performance by Simon Keenlyside in the title role, and a hell of strong performance by Liudmyla Monastyrska as Lady Macbeth. When she first appears lying on a bed you have no idea the power the voice you are going to hear. But wow. She is perfectly suited for the role and the audience was very appreciative of the performance.

Matching this is a series of strong choruses energetically conducted by Antonio Pappano. Verdi's opera is a fast-paced drama that gets to the essence of Shakespeare's play and all the performances worked so well here bringing it all together

This production directed originally by Phyllida Lloyd is an interesting mix of the bloody and sophisticated and even if it has received ambivalence in previous outings, it all seemed to hang well together. I particularly liked the chorus of witches as Frida Kahlo clones that are integrated within the story. And for those not in London, a performance of the production will be in cinemas in the United States and Australia over the next month...

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