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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...

Art in a dark moist place: David Breuer-Weil's Project 4


David Breuer-Weil from Guy Natanel on Vimeo.

London-based artist David Breuer-Weil has taken over the vaults under Waterloo Station with Project 4, an evocative and thought-provoking exhibition about the world, the apocalypse and other social and political considerations. Nothing is small scale here. Everything is big. Most of his paintings are two metres high and four metres long. One giant canvas follows another and as you are drawn into the tunnels under Waterloo Station, they come together to form an impressive spectacle of colour. Interspersed amongst these is Breuer-Weil's sculptures which give the works an added dimension and physicality.

Many Londoners will be familiar with his works, particularly his sculpture. Emergence (see below after the jump) was temporarily installed into Hanover Square in 2012 and Visitor has previously been seen in Golders Hill Park, Hampstead.


Placing the works (and there is 70 canvasses and a number of sculptures) in the cold, rumbling and dark tunnels underneath Waterloo station they appear the perfect setting for exploring these themes. The works feel as if they emerge from the Victorian brickwork, shadows and puddles and are beautifully lit.

The works are for sale although given their size they are probably not for the average home. Even large offices might find it difficult to find the hanging space. In addition the subject matter which shows depictions of the apocalypse, violence and people without brains might not be the sort of message that a big bank would be keen on showing to its clients or workers.

The last time I was here was for the Old Vic Vaults festival and amongst the old furniture and dirty cushions, theatre and opera sprang up from the most unlikeliest of places. This time around there is an order, beauty and calmness about the area. Visiting the space again in the week when it was announced the Old Vic Tunnels would be closing in March, it was a reminder that while places may come and go, good ideas will always find a place to exist. And besides, there are many more miles of railway arches in South London...

The exhibition continues until 1 March. Worth a diversion down Leake Street off Lower Marsh to see what all the fuss is about... It is open from 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and Sundays from 12pm to 4pm. Be sure to check out the Lower Marsh Market if you're visiting on a weekday too...

Update:David Breuer Weil’s Project 4 has been so popular that the exhibition has been extended until Sunday 24th March. There will also be a giveaway of a signed catalogue raissoné to the 5000th visitor. Curator-led tours will take place at 2.30pm on Saturday 9th and Saturday 23rd March and the exhibition will stay open until 9pm on Thursday 21st March.

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