Following their successes in recent years with Jack From The Future, and the award winning The Narrator, Pond-Grainger Performing Arts are back in Walton-on-Thames with Anastasia - their brand new original musical.

We spoke to the author and director of the project, Alex Grainger and he gave us a few teasers about what to expect.

“Anastasia is loosely based on the last days of the Romanov dynasty and their relationship with Rasputin,” he said.

“It’s not entirely historically accurate and there will be some fairy-tale characters that people will recognise, but it makes for a great bit of theatre. It’s a kind of mix-match between Kill Bill and 1970’s martial arts films, which is where the 70s soundtrack comes from.”

Surrey Comet:

“Without giving too much away, the plot follows Anastasia, daughter of Nicolas II the last Tsar. Rasputin wants to rule Russia and attempts to achieve this by blowing up the palace at the annual winter ball, making it seem that Nicolas is dead. What he doesn’t realise is that Anastasia has escaped and plans to come back out of hiding to challenge him.”

Behind the scenes, Anastasia is very much a product of the community and young people in Walton on Thames.

“The cast and the crew are made up of local young adults,” Mr Grainger added.

“Many of them want to become performers and I’m sure they will because they’re a very talented bunch.”

“We were also lucky enough to receive a grant from the Charity of Robert Phillips, which supports all sorts of groups and people in Elmbridge that are trying their hand in the arts.

Surrey Comet:

“I spoke to them, told them all about it and they fully supported the idea. Without their help, not just for us but for anyone that they do help, there is no way that we could put something like this on and we can’t thank them enough.”

When asked who would most enjoy this kind of production, Alex is confident there is something in it for everyone.

He continued: “Whether they enjoy the comedy aspect, whether they enjoy the songs or the overall theatre experience, the story line or the historic side of it; this is a show for everyone and I’m sure people will walk out of the theatre laughing or singing the songs, you’d be crazy not to.”

Anastasia is running at the Walton Playhouse, Walton-On-Thames K 1 Hurst Grove, T12 1AU, from Wednesday, June 5, to Saturday, June 8. Tickets are available from £14-£16.

More details are available here.