Anna (Kirsty McDuff) has been rescued after jumping off a bridge in 1920s Berlin. Franz (Chris Forbes), a police detective, has the job of finding out who she really is. But what is he to make of her claim to be the last surviving member of the Romanovs, the despotic rulers of Russia before the revolution?
Anna - or the Princess Anastasia? - will come back into his life over the years,always with a story to tell. Are her stories true> And does it really matter (except to a policeman…)
McDuff plays the younger Anna as a manic child, who softens her edges, but never loses her edge, over the decades. Forbes plays the straight man for the most part, but has some wonderful comic moments when playing the entire Romanov family, and their firing squad, as the executions took place. And Franz learns something of life from the intriguing Anna.
While there are plenty of laughs, and moments of real pathos, the story does build towards a more serious point of reflection. We are who we present ourselves to the world as. Sometimes that can be to hide from the hurt of our past, or maybe it’s just to be who we prefer to be, or to not succumb to society’s image of the ageing process. We all need to tell stories. Anna (or Anastasia) is an extreme example (and based on the real story of Anna Anderson), but Franz also learns that he can be more than he seems, if that’s who he wants to become. We all can.
An excellent demonstration of just how much power a fifty minute comedy drama can exert.
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