Anya Anastasia: The Executioners

Buckle yourselves in for a speedy and fiercely individualistic comedy cabaret show that rocks the boat in every dimension. Anya Anastasia stumbles on to the stage, mobile in hand in selfie-self-absorption. Her right hand man, musician and multi – instrumentalist Gareth Chin rolls his eyes and shakes his head in disbelief.

Anya Anastasia’s new show The Executioners is a contemporary, multi-faceted   commentary on life in the twenty-first century. She delivers speedy farcical diatribe fashioned with her own cutting edge formula in rap like verse. Her voice does lack vocal elasticity and she should focus more on spoken word and maybe a very low mezzo range.

There is a lot to be said about the world and Anastasia has the geopolitical and cultural map covered in a blend of  homegrown politics through to the KGB in Barbados. Over a dozen songs are delivered with whimsical and comical caper filled action. Chin orchestrates her rambunctious demands as he casually meanders his way around his array of musical instruments.

In a simple white latex outfit and white chunky heels, she wears and bears the luminous mobile phone headpiece with conviction. In her search for freedom she dabbles with yoga while Chin strums his Sitar, ending their on-stage dispute with a swiftly acrobatic sword fight. There are intermittent strobes and mixed lighting and smoke effects - the show is a continuous mindful bedazzlement.

Short films, carefully constructed and projected on to the massive screen, include a gritty montage of her social media accounts. Anastasia, an artistic dynamo, endlessly questions her generation’s apathetic complacency while on her own personal journey of self discovery.

Flora Georgiou

Photographer: Kate Pardey