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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...

Puss and Dick under the influence: Kitten in Heels @LostTheatre


Kitten in Heels, playing at the Lost Theatre, takes the Dick Whittington pantomime and adds lashings of filth and smut. It's a naughty night out where the King Rat bears an unusual resemblance to Theresa May, and Dick's love interests is more interested in buying lemons.

But to really appreciate this show you need to be imbued with plenty of Christmas cheer.
There is a bar both inside the theatre and outside of it to assist, which may help overlook the slow pacing and the amateurish production. Plenty of audience members were making the most of the bars, but the effect was that they were making their own entertainment.


The story involves Dick inheriting a talking cat with a penchant for shoes. Heading off to London they meet Dame Choo of Shoes the Chemist. Dick falls in love with Dame Choo’s daughter Jenny. But Jenny seems to be hard to please. Meanwhile there is King Rat who between buying up properties and taking away affordable housing he is running for mayor.

It is topical and funny, there is a nice balance of cast members of both genders, but there is an awful lot of plot. It could have much more potential if it served as a showcase of the talents of its eccentric cast. There are also some wonderful costumes for Paul L Martin as Dame Choo, but the sum does not feel more than its often good parts.

Kitten in Heels is at the Lost Theatre on Saturday 12 December and then Friday 18 December through to Sunday 20 December.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎


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