Review: THE ANASTASIA FILE, Theatre Royal Windsor
Photo credit: Simon Vail
In The Anastasia File, Jenny Seagrove reprises a role she played a few years ago as a claimant to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (born in 1901), one of the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, who survived the massacre of eleven members of the Russian ruling monarchy in July 1918 by revolutionary forces under the orders of Lenin in a room in Ekaterinburg. It is a remarkable story echoing the claims of Anna Anderson who claimed from her rescue from a suicide attempt in 1920 in Berlin until her death in 1984 that she had survived the massacre, and later married Jack Manahan in the USA to secure citizenship. This intriguing tale is perhaps the finest of Jenny Seagrove’s recent performances on the stage of the Theatre Royal Windsor.
Royce Ryton’s script sets out a convincing argument that Mrs Manahan was who she claimed, with apparently her physical appearance matching dental records, scars from 32 bayonet wounds inflicted by the revolutionaries and her feet reflecting operations she had, so that the Inspector (played by Simon Shepherd) believes her story despite it being refuted by many surviving relatives and acquaintances refusing to sign affidavits supporting her claim. Crucially, there is no evidence of what happened between July 1918 and her reappearance in Berlin in 1920 and at least initially, Anastasia refuses to cooperate simply stating “I never lie” and “I know who I am”. It presents a compelling mystery of how you establish the truth when there is no reliable evidence, and everybody refuses to support the claim. The answer, the use of DNA samples, was only developed after her death and the writing of the play.
Despite the knowledge of the subsequent discovery of the Tsar’s family’s bodies and DNA evidence, the play engages the audience and presents an interesting opposing examination of the motivations of both Anna and the relatives who deny her claims, especially when it is suggested that 20 million roubles was deposited at the Bank of England before the revolution for the family. Rosie Thomson plays all of the female characters including nurses who help establish her case and the Royal relatives who are invited to validate the claim. Anthony D Gayle plays the doctors and various Russian soldiers who she might have encountered.
The writer appears to set out a clear view that she was who she said and that the deniers were motivated by their own personal greed and protection. However, with Anna dressed in all flashback scenes in a hospital gown and bare feet, even when she travels to America, the director, Roy Marsden, appears to be suggesting that it was all a deluded fantasy of an imposter.
Despite being dressed so basically, Seagrove conveys a regal air, a person who knows who she is, a person affected by the trauma of seeing her family brutally executed, a person who seeks to protect her identity until she is sure she trusts someone and then adds flashes of joy and excitement when connecting with that person. It is a delightful, nuanced performance with a sustained Russian accent and it makes you want her story to be true even though history tells us it was not. In the end, you are left wondering could it have been true? Could she have escaped with 32 stab wounds, and could the money be still sitting in the Bank of England or was it collected by one of her relatives?
It is an intriguing scenario, very well presented and played on the Theatre Royal stage. It shines a light on a significant brutal moment in 20th century history, not just for Russia but for the world.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
The Anastasia File plays at Theatre Royal Windsor until 31 May, with further info here.