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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: Rock of Ages



Rock of Ages which is now playing in London, is a jukebox musical of classic rock hits from the eighties. It is full of so much energy and rocked the Shaftesbury Theatre on Wednesday night so hard, that you can't help but like it. This show has played Broadway and other parts of the world and now even has a film in the works. The reasons why it has been such a success might bewilder, but you will have a good time anyway

The cast of incredibly talented people manage to do a lot with the material. And by that I mean both the overly laboured plot and the skimpy costumes. The ladies in the chorus are a particular treat as they bump and grind their way through the proceedings. The men nearby seemed to be watching the show mostly with their mouths open.


In a way it is a shame there is such a hoary story as the music and the performances are almost good enough on their own to pass for an evening's entertainment. The regular references to the fact the story is crap coupled with an audience that has probably had a few beers before the show builds up enough goodwill in any case. At least the show serves as a reminder that the eighties did give us some great music. You will be rushing to the record store itunes store to download them.

It is also nice to see 2005 X-Factor winner Shayne Ward play a slightly washed up rocker with strange sexual practices. Holding it all together is Simon Lipkin who as the narrator works the audience into a frenzy with his mildly filthy antics. He also sports an impressive mullet and collection of great t-shirts that reference boobies and camel toes. Naturally he is the most likeable character.

Actually this show could have benefited from being so much more vulgar and crass rather than a series of musical cliches. There is a mild message about following your dreams, even if they make you marry some girl and have a baby. But this show works best it delivers music, sexy ladies, and high energy... And faux cigarette lighters and an awful lot of glitter...

Upon leaving the theatre, check your body for glitter jizz. There are so many glitter cannons exploding in the finale that you will downing in the stuff... If you're screaming and cheering be prepared to swallow it too... It has opened now at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London.

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