Review Roundup: THE INSEPARABLES at Finborough Theatre

The world premiere of The Inseparables is now playing at Finborough Theatre through May 10. Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables was published for the first time in 2020, decades after de Beauvoir's passing. Now rediscovered classic, and it is being adapted for the theatre for the very first time.

The production is directed by Anastasia Bunce, and stars Alexandre Costet-Barmada, Lara Manela, Ayesha Ostler and Caroline Trowbridge. See what the critics are saying and read the reviews here. 

 Alexander Cohen, BroadwayWorld: There are sparks of potential coiled in its discussion about reconciling faith with the modern world, but in its current form there’s nothing revelatory. You wouldn’t expect anything else from De Beauvoir, the core tenants of whose philosophy are predicated on uncompromisingly individualistic understanding of freedom. A good stage adaptation ought to justify itself by shining a new light onto its source material.  Perhaps this is one for the Simone de Beauvoir super fans.

Emma John, The Guardian: De Beauvoir herself agreed with Sartre’s criticisms of her book: “The story seemed to have no inner necessity and failed to hold the reader’s interest,” she wrote. In play version, it simply takes too long for a sequence of Left Bank conversations to find their dramatic purpose, while some elements remain frustratingly opaque: Sylvie’s atheism, and the idea that she is a “corrupting influence”, in particular. But director Anastasia Bunce keeps the scenes moving, and breathing and delivers a production that’s testament to a special friendship.

Mary Pollard, Everything Theatre: 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.

Rachel Edwards, Theatre Weekly: The Inseparables sometimes falters in its pacing. Chopping and changing between numerous very short scenes becomes wearying. It’s been a long time since I’ve read the novel, but perhaps Howarth is overly faithful to her source text and should trust herself to make more structural changes.