Simone (!) is an intimate 90-minute journey into the life of French radical, philosopher and mystic, Simone Weil (1909–1943).

During Simone Weil’s brief life, and in the 60 years since her writings began to be published, this young Frenchwoman has constantly amazed, infuriated, perplexed and endeared herself to people with her profound thinking and uncompromising behaviour. The essential drama in the play is the struggle between Simone’s deep engagement with society and her growing relationship with her God; a struggle which works to destroy her self and her vivid connections with the world.

Enmeshed in the political and social upheavals of the 1930s, and
the calamities of war, Simone’s compulsion for justice and the paradoxes of her living and dying are enlightening and disturbing. Simone Weil’s story is one of the most intriguing of the last century, and her writings are as lucid and disconcerting as ever. On her gravestone is written, ‘My solitude held in its grasp the grief of others until my death’.

Simone (!) is passionate and nourishing theatre. Simone’s own words have been used by Lorender Freeman to create a powerful one-woman show performed with great sensitivity and intensity by Samantha Bews.

Performer Samantha Bews  Writer Lorender Freeman  Director Mandy Smith
Lighting designer Tim Preston