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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...

Nursing crisis: Persona @Riversidelondon


There’s something reassuringly contemplative about Ingmar Bergman’s Persona. No matter what humdrum life you may be leading, at least you haven’t gone mute from too much acting. It’s not the only message to take away from this stage adaptation. Even when things seem lost in translation from screen to stage, the blurring of lines of the roles people play in life still resonates. It’s currently playing at the newly reopened Riverside Studios at Hammersmith.

The piece centres around a famous stage actress Elizabet (Nobuhle Mngcwengi), who has stopped speaking and appears to have had some form of breakdown. As part of her recuperation, she travels with a nurse (Alice Krige) to a remote summer beach house. Alone with the waves and silence, they both are left to recover.

Krige and Mngcwengi create an intimate and engaging portrayal of this ambiguous relationship between the actress and the nurse. Are the conversations real or imagined? Who is the patient and who is providing the treatment? As the piece progresses, you think you have a handle on the story only to find yourself second-guessing.

There are some evocative projections against the backdrop of crashing seas as the lines between the two characters become blurred.

Dominating the production is an Earth Harp, which is a large stringed instrument that extends over the audience. Its sounds underscore the confusion of the characters and the unstable nature of their relationship.

The piece closely follows the film. However, this faithful translation to the stage makes certain elements seem less mysterious. The narration feels like an interruption to the unfolding drama on stage. Film references seem out of place.

At the end of the show, several audience members were wondering out loud what they had just seen was all about. That’s the point really. There’s something for anyone to take away from this. It all depends on where you’re coming from.

Directed by Paul Schoolman, Persona is at the lovely new Riverside Studios until 23 February.

⭐️⭐️⭐️


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