Review: ANNA/ANASTASIA, Oran Mor

Anna/Anastasia is a new play from comedian and writer Jonny Donahoe and directed by Liz Carruthers. It is based on the true story of Anna Anderson.

Opening in a police interrogation room in the 1920s, Anna (Kirsty McDuff) is being questioned by a police officer, Franz (Chris Forbes). Her story is that she is the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia and that she escaped when her family was executed. Franz suspects that she is experiencing mental illness and this is just a fantasy.

Anna is dressed in her mother's tiara and her father's military jacket. This would normally give her the regal look she's going for but she is also missing her trousers. She won't give Franz any information about why she was found in a canal until he addresses her as royalty. 

Forbes plays Franz as a brilliantly stuffy character, the perfect opposite to McDuff's excitable and sometimes childlike demeanour. There's a lot of comedy in the ridiculousness of the situation, Anna's insistence that she is a princess and Franz's empathetic stating of the facts- she has been sectioned twice already. 

There's also a lot of sensitivity in how the story is handled and there are some real moments of vulnerability. With a solid script and wonderful performances, this makes for an extremely entertaining play.

Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

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