Eleanor Stankiewicz: Nanna-stasia | Adelaide Fringe 2022 review

Actor Eleanor Stankiewicz incorporates the music, the mystery, and the wonder of the animated film Anastasia to tell a new story.

Eleanor Stankiewicz in Nanna-stasia. Picture: Monica Pronk, supplied

Eleanor Stankiewicz: Nanna-stasia

Theatre and Physical Theatre

Rating: ****1/2
Drama Llama at Rhino Room

Until March 19

Anyone who was born in the late ’90s probably fell in love with the animated classic Anastasia.

This was true for actor Eleanor Stankiewicz, who incorporates the music, the mystery, and the wonder of the 1998 film to tell a new story.

Stankiewicz looks back on her Nanna’s life in Lithuania during WWII, with a sense of childlike innocence and imagination, pulling together a performance sure to bring a tear to eyes, and a couple of laughs.

The NIDA graduate’s ability to physically transform herself into different characters with merely a red scarf and an array of accents is very impressive.

For a performance set on an almost empty stage, Stankiewicz transports the audience through her writing, her detailed descriptions filling the blank space, creating a vivid backdrop for what is a heartfelt tribute to her grandmother.