Tending - Riverside Studios

Tending, written by and starring El Blackwood, staged at Riverside Studios this week and last week, is a piece of verbatim theatre drawn from 70 interviews with real NHS nurses. With just three actors - El Blackwood, Anjelica Serra and Ben Lynn - and a simple set consisting of three chairs, a striplight and a surgical-style curtain as a backdrop, the production lets the words do the work.

The nurses' testimonies chart their journeys into the profession, their day-to-day work in the NHS, and the challenges they faced - firstly as newly qualified nurses ('they told me I'd be crying every day for the first 6 months and they were right') and then as early and mid-career nurses. Their roles made all the more challenging by funding cuts, relentless demand, and the long shadow of COVID. Their stories are by turns funny, harrowing and deeply moving, and as someone who has been both a patient and a visitor in hospital, I found many of the images they conjured very familiar, some of them painfully so.

The acting was outstanding - honest, nuanced and emotional. This was as powerful as anything I’ve seen in the West End, despite having none of the budget. Through raw, direct storytelling, the cast revealed what it really means to be a nurse in Britain today and also how they witness the human condition in all its forms from the sublime to the ridiculous. There were moments that certainly brought a lump to my throat, especially around palliative care (something I know about from being my late mother's carer), but the piece was never heavy-handed. The writing allowed for light and shade, making space for hope and humour alongside sorrow.

That said, the way the play ended felt strangely unresolved. Given the strength of the voices we’d just heard, I was left wondering what we were meant to do with it all. It felt like a missed opportunity—an ending that offered no direction. Instead, my friends and I came away feeling a bit despairing and helpless. 

Still, this was poignant, urgent, and vital theatre and shares more insight into the realities of the NHS than any episode of Casualty or Holby City. Tending is a moving reminder of the human faces behind the hospital scrubs and how critical the NHS is to our society here in the UK. 

You can still catch it until Sunday 4th May.

Review: The Inseparables at Finborough Theatre

There’s a lot to admire in The Inseparables, a new play by Grace Joy Howarth based on Simone de Beauvoir’s novella of the same name (you can read about that here), now playing at the Finborough Theatre. It’s an ambitious project to take on a reworking of this recently found novella. The story shines a light on the early life and friendships that helped shape one of the 20th century’s most radical thinkers. And whilst the production has flashes of beauty, particularly in its visuals and performances, it doesn’t quite land emotionally, mainly due to issues in the writing.

The source material is loosely autobiographical: Sylvie represents de Beauvoir and Andrée is based on her real-life best friend and confidante, Elizabeth 'Zaza' Lacoin. These two young women were pioneers in thought, pushing against social norms and having the kind of formative conversations that would later feed into de Beauvoir’s feminist philosophy. On paper, it’s fascinating. But on stage, the depth of their connection doesn’t fully come through. I didn’t quite feel their inseparable-ness, which seems like a bit of a problem when that’s the central premise. Teenage girl friendships can be some of the deepest, passionate bonds around, as intense as any romantic crush and I needed more of that emotional weight to make sense of the story.

The play unfolds in a series of short, fast-moving chronological scenes, jumping from childhood into their twenties. That structure might work on the page, but here it felt a little rushed and fragmented. It was hard to settle into any particular moment before we’d moved on again. It was also hard work as an audience member to keep up with what was going on and where we were in place and time. This also meant there wasn't time to get to any emotional depth between the two girls. We got glimpses of their radical spirit, but not enough of the raw, thought-provoking conversations that maybe fuelled de Beauvoir’s work.

That said, the production design is full of clever touches. Hazel Poole Zane’s set is minimal but effective: a simple window with lace curtains, a chaise longue, a dresser-turned-anything, and a couple of prop shelves - nothing flashy, but enough to give each scene a clear sense of place. The stage is small, but it never feels cramped, and the transitions are smooth and purposeful.

The standout design element, though, is the video projection by newcomer Jessica Brauner. These projections add real texture to the world of the play, transporting us from school chapels to rural idylls to domestic interiors. The stained glass effect is especially striking—there’s one moment in Act 2 where it’s used in combination with shadow dancers to contrast Andrée’s faith with Sylvie’s rebellion, and it’s genuinely beautiful.

Costume-wise, everything feels grounded in period—give or take the odd zip (a small detail, but zips weren’t really a thing until the 1930s!). Overall, though, the look and feel of the show is cohesive and well thought-out.

Performance-wise, the cast of four is strong. Lara Manela as Andrée is a real highlight—graceful, expressive, and consistently engaging. She brings a subtle wildness to the role that hints at something deeper beneath the surface. Ayesha Ostler as Sylvie is solid too, although I didn’t always feel the fire of Sylvie’s emotional or ideological journey. I think that's down to the writing as much as anything. Alexandre Costet-Barmada and Caroline Trowbridge both provide excellent support, juggling multiple roles with ease and nuance.

The real treats come in the movement sequences, choreographed by Daniela Poch. Andrée’s love of music, especially the violin, is beautifully rendered through dance. These moments could have veered into interpretive-dance cliché, but they don’t. They’re elegant, clear, and a lovely way of deepening the character. The music choices (by Flick Isaac Chilton) are also pitch-perfect, helping to break up the linear storytelling and evoke mood and time really effectively.

There’s also something genuinely exciting about the fresh talent involved in this production. Three of the cast are new graduates, two are French (which feels fitting, given the source material), and the video designer is also just starting out. It’s fantastic to see new artists being given this kind of platform, and I really hope we see more from them in future. Kudos to the Finborough Theatre for providing a platform for them to showcase their talents.

Am I glad I saw it? Absolutely. Despite its flaws, it’s made me want to read the novella and dig deeper into both de Beauvoir and Lacoin’s lives so in many respects, the purpose of the exercise has been achieved. It's also important to support new work to maintain the health of our theatre ecosystem.

Playing until 10 May at Finborough Theatre (5 minutes walk from Earls Court tube, Warwick Road exit) https://finboroughtheatre.co.uk/production/the-inseparables/

The Inseparables - by Grace Joy Howarth, based on the novella by Simone de Beauvoir translated by Lauren Elkin

Cast & Creatives:

Cast: Alexandre Costet-Barmada, Lara Manela (Andree), Ayesha Ostler (Sylvie) and Caroline Trowbridge

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

Intimacy Coordinator: Justin Stirewalt / Stage Manager: Kiara Atkinson

Elektra - a Review

Performance seen: Thursday 27 March 3pm. Stalls K19. Duke of York's Theatre.

This is a high concept, experimental piece of theatre breathing new life into the centuries old storyfrom Sophocles. In that respect, it was successful. I enjoyed the drastically different approach to the story telling. The Greek Chorus's singing and sound effects were a highlight, although they were perhaps overplayed in the final third of the piece. Brie Larson's performance was good. She's essentially doing a monologue interspersed with some Greek Chorus and the odd bit of dialogue. At times, the delivery was a bit one tone but it wasn't as shouty as expected from the reviews I'd read.

Stockard Channing was fabulous and it would have been great to have seen more of her on stage. The whole thing would have benefitted from more dialogue too to maintain the energy and to provide variation.

The set effects (very limited - bare stage, white backdrop, a blimp, some chairs and some microphones) and staging were good but were probably not needed inasmuch the words and sounds were the focus here. What the blimp added is anyone's guess. Ditto the spray paint. The wardrobe department are clearly kept busy removing that from the elegant silky gold and white faux fur costumes worn by all but Elektra. She's in jeans, sneakers, shaved head and a Bikini Kill t-shirt.

Overall, the poetry of Brie's (Elektra) words and the opera meets plainchant of the chorus were enjoyable and an interesting way to tell the story. As such, it was more an auditory experience than a visual one for me and that's not a bad thing.

This style of theatre won't be for everyone, but I'm glad to have seen it and I'm glad that experimental, high concept theatre is available in the West End. 

Worth noting that after the performance, there was a queue at the stage door waiting for the cast to come out. I'm guessing these were mostly for Ms Larson but I expect Ms Channing also has her fans.

The run ends in a couple of weeks so if you want to catch it, you'll need to be quick. If you shop around, you'll find discounted tickets.

Cast:

Elektra - Brie Larson

Clytemnestra - Stockard Channing

Chrystothemis - Marieme Diouf

Aegisthus - Greg Hicks

Orestes - Patrick Vaill

Chorus: Hannah Bristow, Wallis Currie-Wood, Jo Goldsmith-Eteson, Nardia Ruth, Rebecca Thorn, Adeola Yemitan, 

Understudy - Arthur Boan

Creatives:

Writer - Anne Carson

Director - Daniel Fish

Choreographer - Annie-B Parson

Designer - Jeremy Herbert

Costume Design - Doey Luthi

Lighting Designer - Adam Silverman

Sound Design - Max & Ben Ringham

Composer - Ted Hearne