Review: The Inseparables, Finborough Theatre

The Inseparables is a novella by acclaimed writer and seminal feminist, Simone de Beauvoir, which was only published in 2020, some considerable time after her death, making it a great find for a new drama. It tracks the relationship of two girls who meet at school. They become firm friends and grow up alongside each other in the years following World War I. As is the case with much of de Beauvoir’s writing, it focuses on female issues such as damaging social expectations under a toxic patriarchy that hinder personal and emotional needs, along with the role of the church and ideas of sin. This is a time where for women to be educated is deemed unusual, if not improper, and where they are expected to marry appropriately for financial security.

All of these themes are covered in Grace Joy Howarth’s adaptation of the book, currently playing at the Finborough Theatre and performed capably by a cast of four. It’s a well-intentioned piece, giving public space to important topics, but the page to stage adaptation is rather wordy and leans into being a museum piece, more than offering contemporary impact. There’s no attempt to examine these feminist issues in any more than a period setting – no suggestion as to why this play might be important to today’s audience. And although competent, the production ultimately falls a little flat.

Ayesha Ostler playing Sylvie, narrates the tale proficiently. We’re told of her overwhelming interest in her friend Andrée (Lara Manela), which she describes as obsessive. There’s no suggestion that this is a romantic or sexual appeal, which is fine in itself, but perhaps there should be as the interaction between the two supposedly rebelliously minded girls otherwise lacks the frisson and tension that would make it interesting. There’s no urgency or electricity in their proximity to each other, so it’s difficult to care about the relationship, or indeed perceive them as inseparable. Sylvie and Andrée are portrayed from childhood, and by the time they reach adulthood there is no real feeling that Sylvie has any obsession at all, even casually encouraging a male friend to court Andrée. At Andrée’s ultimate demise, Sylvie’s reporting is flat and resigned, without any hint of emotional devastation.

Many of Andrée’s scenes focus on her in isolation, rather than with Sylvie, and on her desperate search for liberation. This reveals interesting mental health issues caused by family and societal pressures, which are suggested but then not interrogated in enough detail to give the audience an emotional attachment to her. Her fall is an inescapable tragedy, fated just by her being a woman of a certain class, but for us to perceive it as tragic we need first to bond with her, which really didn’t happen for me.

There’s a lot of opportunity to go bigger in the tech to make this production more striking, and add the tension that is lacking. With many years and locations to pass through in the piece, the rear projection – which is often helpful – could be used to give additional texture to what is otherwise a very straightforward delivery. Bolder lighting design could add drama to moments of anguish and Andrée’s impulsive self-sabotage. As it is, there are points where characters drift through darkness in clumsy lighting states. The performance is occasionally punctuated with music, which is beneficial in setting temporal placement and atmospheres, but all too frequently cuts off abruptly and uncomfortably.

This is undoubtedly a competent production; it’s perhaps just prosaic, too often relying on the text to do the work, where more confident choices in characterisation and staging might really bring it to life.

Playwright: Grace Joy Howarth
Based on the novel by Simone de Beauvoir
Director: Anastasia Bunce
Set Designer: Hazel Poole Zane
Lighting Designer: Abraham Walkling-Lea
Sound Designer: Flick Isaac Chilton
Movement Director: Daniela Poch
Video Designer: Jessica Brauner
Producers: Conjureman Productions and Inseparable Productions in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre.

The Inseparables runs at Finborough Theatre until Saturday 10 May.