Ashley D Gayle Archives - North West End UK

One of the twentieth century’s most enduring historical mysteries provides rich material for ‘The Anastasia File’, Royce Ryton’s drama exploring the extraordinary story of Anna Manahan, the woman who spent decades claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, the supposedly murdered daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Following the execution of the Romanov family in 1918, the play moves to Berlin two years later, where a traumatised young woman is rescued from a canal and subsequently placed in an institution. Gradually, details emerge that suggest she may be the surviving Anastasia. From there, questions of memory, identity, trauma and inheritance begin to intertwine as those around her attempt to establish whether she is a survivor of unimaginable brutality or an extraordinarily convincing im...

The King’s Head Theatre holds a special place in my heart, as it was the scene of my first ever written review. In 1986, as coursework for my Drama ‘O’ Level, I travelled from the depths of sleepy Surrey to lively Islington for an experimental interpretation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit. The production was less memorable than the concept of being squidged in a room at the back of a pub with an audience brought together by existential angst. I’d not only found my people, but learned that theatre could be uncomfortably intimate, messy and weird. In 2015, I played a sexual health and drugs counsellor, in a production of The Clinic at The King’s Head. My character was based on renowned ‘chemsex’ expert David Stuart (RIP) who was also one of the show’s producers. It was a thrill to perform ...

Tag: Ashley D Gayle

The Anastasia File – Theatre Royal, Windsor

Exhibitionists – King’s Head Theatre