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Anna's Apartment

 
Roger Kay Review by Roger Kay 4 Published: 3 Jun 2025 Muzeum alchymistů a mágů staré Prahy Show Dates: 29 May 2025-31 May 2025

Siobhán arrives, or, as she puts it, is “chucked off” the airport bus, in central Paris. She has booked a holiday apartment and can barely contain her excitement as she is shown around. The apartment, belonging to Anna, is located in the exalted Latin Quarter and radiates style – wooden floorboards, artsy posters, original artwork and books.

Just what is Siobhán trying to escape from?

The host’s agent meticulously reels off a list of forbidden fruit: access to the locked wardrobe and drawers, her belongings, her food and drink. The strict check-out time of 9am is drummed into her. It’s Friday night and when she goes out, she witnesses Parisiennes living their best lives. She is insecure, under-confident and refers to herself as “frumpy”; she knows instinctively that she does not belong. A bar blares out Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This – what are hers we wonder? She makes a friend, Julia, perhaps another lost soul in this patchwork of bohemian élan.

When she returns to the flat, her trip over before it has really begun, Siobhán’s thoughts return to Anna’s life. As resentment and fantasies gnaw at her, she begins to cosplay as Anna. Siobhán can no longer contain herself and breaks into the wardrobe. She puts on Anna’s stunning red dress and before she knows it, is stepping out in the small hours of Parisienne nightlife. She has a series of encounters but now is emboldened, confident. She brings home a stranger, Yann, who tries to rob her but she thwarts him. When she awakens, it is past her check-out time and Yann has gone.

She is now past caring, inviting Julia and one of the neighbours, Stephanie, in to drink and smoke, observing that she has damaged Anna’s dress. It’s gone 11am, Anna is banging at the bolted door and Stephanie thinks the apartment has caught fire. The demise into chaos almost complete.

The suspicion forms that all may not be what it seems with Siobhán. Is she a fantasist, an unreliable narrator, innately self-destructive… or is there more to it?

This is a most creative piece by Wandering Stories theatre company. Liam McCarthy’s writing is sharp and provides the terrific Sinéad O’Brien with the platform to showcase her storytelling abilities. Her transition from Siobhán into Anna is excellent. We are left to dissect the real from the imaginary, consider Siobhán’s sweet dreams and wonder quite how she got here…

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The Blurb:

Following three sold out runs at Prague Fringe, Multi Award Winning company Wandering Stories and Sinéad O’Brien return with their brand new show Anna's Apartment

Siobhán arrives in Paris on a much longed for, and long delayed get away. As she settles into her flush new surroundings, Siobhán becomes increasingly preoccupied by her beautiful Airbnb host Anna, whom she has yet to meet. Siobhán wallows in Anna’s seemingly exciting and glamourous life, imagining the possibilities of how the other half lives. A moment of mistaken identity throws Siobhán violently into Anna’s world, where she finds herself trapped in a sinister web of half-truths and mania. 

A story of love, longing and obsession, told from multiple perspectives, 'Julia’s Wardrobe' is also a story of a housing crisis. Elements of Irish Storytelling and myth support a 'midlife crisis' narrative, which belies a psychological thriller beneath. Eat Pray Love meets The Lives of Others.