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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...

Christmas Fare: A Christmas Carol @ORLTheatre

A Christmas Carol at the Old Red Lion Theatre is an enjoyable and evocative version of the tale that uses resourceful staging, some fine singing and subtle performances to tell Dickens' tale.

The story of ghosts, greed and goodwill is now a regular Christmas theatrical tradition and works best mixed with carols and some festive cheer.


There is a timeless element to this production. While there are nods to the Victorian period and the piece is faithful to the original story, the ensemble dress in contemporary clothes and use modern props as if to prompt you to ponder about the inequalities that exist today. There may not be workhouses but there still are the working poor.

Alexander McMorran as Scrooge is moody but never over the top. His transformation after being visited by the ghosts of past, present and future also avoids over-sentimentality.

The ensemble play a variety of characters but also provide vocal effects and commentary that add to the atmosphere and inventiveness of the piece. I particularly liked the interjection when Scrooge curses where they apologise for the audience having to see that.

An enjoyable 80 minutes of Christmas fare along with being a little thought-provoking as well. It runs through to January.

Photo credit: Production photo by Anna Söderblom

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