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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...

Searching undeterred: The Gift @ParkTheatre


I recently had a few parcels go missing from where I live. The first parcel disappeared without a trace. The second parcel's contents were removed, and the box was left alone in the lobby. It's one of the things that you have to put up with living in central London. Apart from complaining to the delivery company and filing a police report, it crossed my mind to think about what would happen if I sent myself something rather unpleasant for a future parcel thief to open up. Well, Dave Florez's new work, The Gift, is in this line of thinking, except that the lead receives an anonymous gift of a turd in the mail rather than sending it to himself. It is lovingly gift-wrapped in a cake box from a posh north London bakery. It's a fascinating and hilarious three-hander currently playing at Park Theatre

Colin (Nicholas Burns) is a little obsessive at the best of times. He doesn't let things drop quickly and is obsessed with the details behind anything and everything, from making a spreadsheet on his laptop to putting together detailed boards about potential suspects. The most bonkers thing to do seems the most natural thing to do. 

And so when he receives the anonymous package in the mail, he descends down a rabbit hole of paranoia and vengeance. His sister, Lisa (Laura Haddock) and her partner, Brian (Alex Price), try to distract him with trips to his favourite Crouch End restaurant or possible clues about who sent the missive, but all to no avail. 

Produciton photo

On one level, this is a play about not very much. But on the other hand, it feels very topical for the life of a forty-something Londoner. There's the anonymity of living in a big city, the puny enjoyments of a favourite restaurant or bakery in a town where finding something decent and reasonably priced to eat is an endless challenge; all the while, time is marching on, and there are regrets about settling down or making the connection.

The cast creates a convincing set of characters trapped in a bonkers farce of their own making. The story sometimes descends into the manosphere, but Haddock's character is the sane voice in the proceedings. 

The pace is fast, so you don't have too much time to think about it, but that also keeps the laughs flowing. It may be nervous laughter where some of the wry observations about life in London seem familiar. Or what would happen if some unknown person decided they didn't like you? In London, anything's possible. 

Directed by Adam Meggido, The Gift is at Park Theatre until 1 March. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

production photo

Production photos by Rich Southgate

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