AN INTERROGATION

Hampstead Theatre

★★★★

“The three-strong cast is uniformly compelling”

Debuting his play in Edinburgh in 2023, writer director Jamie Armitage had to deliver this police interrogation drama in a tight 59 minutes. At the Hampstead Theatre, he uses the extra 10 minutes to great effect, packing his bonus time with an odd twitch, an extended silence or an implacable blank expression denoting nothing – not guilt or innocence.

It is these small touches – like a dab of white that brings alive a painted eye – that add so much to this exquisitely polished gem.

The set-up is familiar from a thousand cop shows: a nervous female detective is convinced of the guilt of an amiable and upstanding citizen, and she has to break down his faultless veneer against the clock. This kindly gent has given up his Sunday to amble his way towards a discussion about the unseemly business of two women, one killed a while ago and another missing.

He must answer for some strange coincidences in his tale but he’s happy to do so. Why not? He’s an establishment CEO, head of a brain injury charity, pillar of the community, knows people in Government. He has alibis up to here.

No, there’s absolutely nothing remotely guilty about middle aged, middle class Cameron Andrews. But fidgety DC Ruth Palmer has a hunch.

How will she set about the task? To what extent will she succumb to or exploit these inherent power dynamics?

And so we begin, the clock counting down in the hunt for the missing woman. Not so much cat-and-mouse as cat-and-another-cat, this one licking its self-satisfied whiskers, too clever by half and not likely to be undone by a brittle young woman.

The set is simple yet evocative. Plastic chairs, plain table. Water cooler. Yellow office lighting draining colour from already pallid skin. You can practically smell the stale sweat and cold coffee.

It’s a pin drop experience as we lean in to pick up on every inflection, and squint to analyse every tell and posture. The live-stream screen on the back wall is both a help and hindrance in this regard. Yes, it draws attention to the telling gestures for the people at the back, but the sudden close-ups also signal when A Big Moment is looming, which is clumsy in such a subtle piece.

The three-strong cast is uniformly compelling. Colm Gormley as John Culin, the mentor detective, plays his cards close to his chest. Does he have Palmer’s back, or is he playing another game entirely?

Rosie Sheehy and Jamie Ballard as Palmer and Andrews are flawless. Their softly-spoken interchanges are so light, yet so freighted. There’s not much action but they seem to morph throughout as if the mind games were physical. They reel, deflate, rise, go again. But only ever minutely.

In set-up and purpose, An Interrogation draws on influences from Silence of the Lambs to Line of Duty. So it’s tempting to play interrogation cliche bingo – her slip, his slip, the accusation, the big gamble etc.

But this absorbing play is too disciplined to oversell those moments. It is all quietly brilliant.

Good job this tense little duel lasted only about an hour. I finally got to exhale.

AN INTERROGATION

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 23rd January 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Marc Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

KING JAMES | ★★★★ | November 2024

VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN | ★★ | July 2024

THE DIVINE MRS S | ★★★★ | March 2024

DOUBLE FEATURE | ★★★★ | February 2024

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | ★★★★ | December 2023

ANTHROPOLOGY | ★★★★ | September 2023

STUMPED | ★★★★ | June 2023

LINCK & MÜLHAHN | ★★★★ | February 2023

THE ART OF ILLUSION | ★★★★★ | January 2023

SONS OF THE PROPHET | ★★★★ | December 2022

AN INTERROGATION

★★★★

“For Tennant’s performance alone, it is worth seeing this production”

After a critically acclaimed run at the Donmar Warehouse, Max Webster’s Macbeth is being brought to the screen. Filmed theatre is a tricky beast, on the one hand it provides accessibility and longevity, on the other it often struggles to capture the pin-drop intensity of being in the room. This film manages, mostly, to capture the magic. It’s a different experience but it’s still a sublime production.

Webster’s thoroughly modern and psychologically fraught show, pares back the theatricality and leaves us with a claustrophobic tale of untamed ambition and hubris.

We open on a close shot of a bowl of water. Blood drips into it, droplet by droplet. David Tennant as Macbeth, sits, wringing the blood from a cloth. The tight shot of his face allows us to see every ripple of anguish. For his performance, the film is worth it. He is tortured and conniving, witty and sensual, mad and ashamed. It is the kind of performance that defines a character. It’ll be referred to in textbooks of the future.

The design is sparse and monochromic. A bright white stage (designed by Rosanna Vize), actors in black (save Lady Macbeth in white) and a dark glass backdrop. Through this we see the larger cast, multi-roling into a chorus, who commentate and berate from the other side. The glass is interesting, it allows some chilling moments (a running child covered in blood, tree branches tickling the glass) but the brightness of the white stage is more effective. The film includes aerial shots, allowing us to see people lying on the stage, dancing on the stage, dying on the stage. This is a bonus of the film; it gives you a chance to view the piece from every angle.

In the stage play Webster had audience members wear headphones, with actors whispering in their ears to create a near immersive surround sound. This works in a cinema, and does make the audience feel more immersed, though it lacks the innovative punch of the original concept.

While it’s really Tennant’s show, the rest of the cast are very strong. Cush Jumbo as Lady Macbeth is a loving version, coming alive in her frustration and embarrassment at her husband’s unravelling. Their connection, and chemistry, gives a sexy heartbeat to the relationship. Jatinder Singh Randhawa as the Porter is hilarious, ad-libbing away and playing on the audience’s headphone wearing. Rona Morison as Lady Macduff is subtle and tragic. Noof Ousellam’s Macduff brings tears to the eyes in his quiet grief, definitely making him an actor to look out for.

The more theatrical moments don’t translate so well to screen, the visit from the witches fails to stir the necessary fearfulness. The show chooses the psychological over the magical, which works, but means when it strays into prophecy it feels incongruous. Similarly, what gets noticed on screen is less forgiving. The costumes leave a little to be desired, for instance everyone is in patent leather Chelsea boots. Interestingly that’s something that would be easily ignored on stage, but is glaring on screen.

This has not entirely converted me to the wonders of filmed theatre, but it has definitely softened me towards it. While it is undoubtably not as good as being there, it is a close second. For Tennant’s performance alone, it is worth seeing this production.

AN INTERROGATION

Hampstead Theatre

★★★★

“The three-strong cast is uniformly compelling”

AN INTERROGATION

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 23rd January 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Marc Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

AN INTERROGATION

AN INTERROGATION

AN INTERROGATION

MACBETH

In Cinemas

★★★★

“For Tennant’s performance alone, it is worth seeing this production”

MACBETH

In Cinemas from 5th February

Reviewed on 20th January 2025

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Marc Brenner

Previously reviewed at the Donmar Warehouse:

MACBETH

MACBETH

MACBETH