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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...

Alone in this world: Jericho’s Rose @thehopetheatre

A loss of identity and being between two worlds lies at the heart of Jericho’s Rose. It’s Lilac Yosiphon’s account of a theatre maker who is trying to stay in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile her grandfather is in Tel Aviv suffering from Alzheimer’s. It’s currently playing at The Hope Theatre.

The last time I was at The Hope Theatre it was to catch the excellent Cockamamy, about an absent-minded Spam-hoarding grandmother. This time around it’s about a grandfather trying to remember who he was. It’s as if the venue is becoming the Dementia Theatre.

But this tale is also more abstract. Live music by Sam Elwin, sound loops and evocative projections weave a tale of confusion and isolation. Music, movement and background projections by Will Monk underscore the unsettling environment. For both grandfather and granddaughter. Both are struggling to find a place in the world. Both are in a state of flux.

This is a minimalist piece. Part of it’s intent is to repeat in trying to remember the past and the present. Memory plays tricks on both of them. And there is the mundane details both have to endure. For Jasmine, it’s having to follow the excruciating details to reapply for a visa for leave to remain in the UK. For her grandfather it’s trying to remember who he is and who she is. But repetition can be exhausting. For both the characters and the audience.

The reasons why Jasmine wants to remain in the United Kingdom to make theatre aren’t clear. Afterall she has to endure an awful lot of stress (and causal sex) to get there. Perhaps the Tel Aviv theatre scene is just really lousy.

But when things being to come together for both characters in the final minutes the piece soars. This is a fascinating meditation about wanting to be somewhere called home.

Directed by Lilac Yosiphon, Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster and Mike Cole, Jerhicho’s Rose is at the Hope Theatre until November 3.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Photos by Lidia Crisafulli

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