Review by Daz Gale
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A sell-out show from last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe makes its London debut this week as An Interrogation kicks off a limited five-week run at Hampstead Theatre. With a real buzz around the production and many of the London dates already sold out or selling fast, expectations were rightly high for this drama. Could it live up to these expectations and prove to be a killer show?
Based on a real interview between a Police Detective and a seemingly respectable man, An Interrogation sees PC Ruth Palmer (Rosie Sheehy) call in Cameron Andrews (Jamie Ballard) for a voluntary interview in an attempt to solve the case of a missing girl before time runs out. With a link to another recent murder, her inkling that there might be more to this man that meets the eye leads to an intense battle for power.
The debut play from Jamie Armitage, the Tony Award-nominated co-director of SIX, An Interrogation is a tense seventy minutes, seemingly played out in real time. Armitage’s writing proves interesting throughout as the question of who is interrogating who constantly comes up in a power dynamic that leads to a game of cat and mouse between the pair. Moments of humour and peppered throughout but, at times, these feel slightly jarring and at odds with the overall tone of the play which can prove inconsistent at times.
Though An Interrogation has a lot to say, it doesn’t always convey its themes well. Attempting to send a message about the treatment of women in the police, this almost feels like an afterthought to the main interrogation, with moments of Ruth’s own journey feeling underdeveloped and unnatural at times. The under-development was a recurring thought for me when watching this show. Captivating in its own right, I kept feeling like this destined to be so much better than it currently is. Full of so much potential and still enjoyable, it hasn’t quite cracked the case on how to make a completely cohesive and fully fleshed out story just yet.
Armitage also directs, using the cramped, cold and impersonal space of the interrogation room and filling it with tension, elevating the material. Technology plays a key part in the storytelling here with live-filming providing close ups of both parties, predominantly their hands under the table in a bid to represent reality and perception. Designed to manipulate the audiences point of view, it is a good idea in theory but again could use a bit more development to stop the insertions feeling as random as they do.
As Ruth Palmer, Rosie Sheehy gives a complicated and conflicted characterisation as she attempts to play different sides, never quite knowing what is real and what is an act. As her buttons get pushed, moments of unexpected emotion and anger rise to the surface before Ruth regains control and lets her professional demeanour win out. Sheehy is a marvel at displaying all of these elements to the character though was deserving of slightly more character exposition in the writing to allow for more dimensions to come through.
Jamie Ballard gives a skilled and subtle performance as the seemingly calm Cameron Andrews. As the interrogation progresses, this calm façade ebbs away with Ballard awe-inspiring in the nuanced and gradual way he exhibits this. The slightest of facial expressions, nervous movement or just complete silence gives him plenty to work with before revealing a very different side of the character in a demanding performance, expertly handled.
Though predominantly a two-hander, Colm Gormley proves a third wheel as John Culin, Ruth’s boss and someone who is seemingly pulling the strings behind the scenes. The biggest example of a missed opportunity in the writing, I questioned the necessity of this character and what it adds to the story through no fault of the actor himself, whose larger-than-life presence was certainly memorable in his fleeting appearances.
Full of tension and intrigue, An Interrogation is an at times uncomfortable but always enjoyable one-act play. As good as it is in its current form, it still feels unfinished to me with the potential to flesh this out further and make a truly unmissable play. Though its themes and ideas are admirable, they’re not all explored fully and, as such, does a disservice to the story in itself. A decent play albeit an imperfect one, I just hope when it comes back again, it proves to be more arresting.
An Interrogation plays at Hampstead Theatre until 22nd February. Tickets from www.hampsteadtheatre.com
Photos by Marc Brenner