Anna Burnside reviews a production that’s ‘compact, perfectly formed and as rich in ideas as it is in laughs.’
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia is giving an official ‘the full Wikipedia’ of her family’s assassination at the hands of the Bolsheviks. When she finally pauses for breath, she is reminded that she has not answered the initial question: why is she not wearing any trousers?
In fact, she is a Tsarist Courtney Love in 1920s undercrackers, military jacket and wet knee socks. Topped with a diamond tiara which saved her life and has the bullet dent to prove it.
Her adversary is a buttoned-up police officer, and Anna/Anastasia is a deceptively simple story of their encounters over several decades. Writer Jonny Donahoe, the talent behind Fringe triumph Every Brilliant Thing, weaves together the story of Anna and why she is also Anastasia with the lightest of touches.
Kirsty McDuff is tremendous as Anna/Anastasia, with the ballet moves of a Russian princess and the imperious sneering put-downs of her second cousin once removed whose taste is too blingy for a true aristocrat. She keeps her vulnerability below the surface and disguises it with comedy. Brilliantly.
It’s great to see Chris Forbes stretched as Franz, the swan-collecting, non-dancing police officer. Best known for his comedy turn as the other Murray brother, director Liz Carruthers uses his funny bones then asks for more.
The sequence where he acts out all the characters in the gruesome death of Anastasia’s family in a basement is masterful.
Anna/Anastasia is compact, perfectly formed and as rich in ideas as it is in laughs. A perfect treat.
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Anna/Anastasia performs at Oran Mor’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint until October 5, 2024 before touring to the Traverse Theatre (Oct 8-12) and the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen (Oct 15-19).
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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