Review: THE ANASTASIA FILE, Salisbury Playhouse

A very powerful Jenny Seagrove (Judge John Deed, Local Hero) reprises her strong role of Anna Manahan in The Anastasia File. She wholly embraces the part of a woman claiming to be Tsar Nicholas II's daughter – the only one of her family to survive the brutal massacre of five members of the Russian monarchy and their four servants by the Bolsheviks in July 1918 at Ekaterinburg.

Bravely wearing no make-up (something most actresses won't even consider) and looking vulnerable – mainly in a pale blue nightgown and with ruffled bedhead hair – Seagrove stands out in every one of her scenes.

Last year, she played the same part in Bill Kenwright's Theatre Royal Windsor Theatre touring production based on Anna Anderson (who becomes Mrs Manahan after marrying Jack Manahan to gain US citizenship). It's the astonishing real-life story of a woman alleging, after being rescued following a suicide attempt in 1920's Berlin and entering an asylum, that she's the Grand Duchess Anastasia. This moving and mysterious drama has been revived and is currently running at Salisbury Playhouse before continuing on tour.

It seems the public can't get enough of 'who do you think you are' stories. We're pulled in by the conman in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can when a teenager pretends to be an airline pilot, doctor, history professor and more. And what about novelist Patricia Highsmith's genius tale of identity theft, The Talented Mr Ripley, which has morphed into films and toured as a stage play earlier this year in England, Scotland and Ireland. Anastasia's fascinating story has also spawned books and a film starring Ingrid Bergman in 1956.

Royce Royton's script, that reads like a detective story of sorts, of Anastasia's supposed survival and endurance is set out in a series of scenes with a commanding Simon Shepherd (Noises Off, Posh) as the Inspector questioning Anastasia and ultimately forming a bond with this troubled woman. She's also examined by Anthony D. Gayle's (The Tempest, Othello) sympathetic doctor in the asylum and is observed by a nurse (Rosie Thompson - The Kitchen, Enigma) who discovers Monahan speaks several languages and carries herself like a lady.

Persuasive clues are offered in Manahan's bid to prove she's the Grand Duchess: matching dental records and a physical resemblance to Anastasia, scars from apparently 32 bayonet wounds and operations on her feet. However much the Inspector and hospital staff take her side, there are surviving relatives and friends of Anastasia who don't believe she's the real deal. They won't sign affidavits supporting Monahan's claims and there's also the large fortune of 20 million roubles the Tsar deposited in the Bank of England that they would like for themselves.

Director Roy Marsden handles a largely exposition-heavy script with little action as best he can. Luckily, the story's so compelling it grabs the audience who really want to know if this woman's a fake or not. Marsden opts for a simple set bathed in dappled light and shadows by lighting designer Nick Richings and Dan Samson provides effective sound design that adds to the mystery.

The cast is fleet of foot, going backwards and forwards in time. Thomson plays all of the female characters other than Anastasia, including Royal relatives and various nurses; and Gayle turns up as Russian soldiers Monahan/Anastasia claims to have come across and the doctors taking care of her.

The production teeters between scepticism and empathy for a woman who insists she's telling the truth: "For me there is no mystery. I know the answer." It makes for an intriguing evening that leaves many unanswered questions, such as do we believe in what we want to see, rather than what we're actually seeing. One hopes that audiences discuss and even delve deeper into these ambiguities long after they've left the theatre.

The Anastasia File runs at Salisbury Playhouse until 10 October and then tours.

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