Anna K

The concept behind Anna K is a very clever way to suggest that sexism continues to reign in society despite historical progression. Anna K makes direct reference to Tolstoy’s famous novel Anna Karenina, its iconography and its themes. Contextualising it in a contemporary digital media landscape, where the damaging expression of societal disapproval can go completely unchecked, beautifully mirrors the ruthlessness of the aristocratic ambience of the novel. The parallels are extremely feasible and the alternative narrative outcome also is also very plausible.

However, the journey to this conclusion is less moving than expected. The vicious online trolling and the depths of despair occur over a very short period of time in the play. While Caroline Craig as Anna K effectively portrays the descent into desperation, this tends to rely on narrative exposition. The story arc is not able to attend to the kind of insidious, unrelenting and often gradual erosion of the psyche that sexist behaviour on or off-line can instil in women.

The fact that women are the target of these obscene double standards is nicely emphasised in the way Anna K’s young lover (Callan Colley) is able to move around relatively freely despite a media frenzy encircling their relationship. This is also made evident in the fact that he is re-engaged in his career whereas Anna is confined to their hotel room while both her personal and professional life are being completely dismantled. The contrast is clear but much like the play in general it is less striking than it could or should be.

This production delves into some fundamentally horrendous flaws in gender relations and power dynamics. The story and the situation no doubt resonate with many women, and not only high profile or high achieving ones. How to make this a truly urgent matter that needs addressing is something that this production, along with society more broadly, has yet to work out.

Patricia Di Risio 

Photographer: Pia Johnson

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