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In what is a very complicated room, with such a complex seating plan and performance area, we have achieved everything we could possibly achieve”
such a complex seating plan and performance area, we’ve achieved everything we could possibly achieve.” UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL A wildly popular genre, and often tricky to get right, crime is a popular subject of choice for stage, having been covered in a plethora of ways throughout theatre’s history. An Interrogation explores the crime thriller in a novel way by using a unique technical innovation, and was heralded as Summerhall’s fastest-selling show in eight years at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023, with the entire run selling out before its opening performance. This award-winning investigative drama is now transferring to London for a limited five-week run at Hampstead Theatre. It’s the debut play from Jamie Armitage, Tony Award-nominated co-director of Six: The Musical , and is a gripping piece about power, deception and individual perspectives of the truth. “Writing is something I’ve always loved,
but it was actually my directing which took off first,” introduces Armitage. “After spending a couple years of my life focusing on making the beautiful show that is Six , I decided to get back to writing, which coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, and eventually I had a draft of the play which would go on to become An Interrogation .” The show places the audience inside a police interview room, as a detective works against the clock to try and solve a missing persons case. She sits down for a voluntary interview with someone who seems like the least likely person to be linked to the crime – a very respectable member of society – and as it’s voluntary, he has the ability to walk out at any moment he likes. “The detective has to play this very tricky game of speaking to somebody who she suspects might be linked to this case, while also having to maintain a friendly atmosphere.” Armitage explains how the story is based on video of a case
in Canada, in which a detective called Jim Smyth interviews a seemingly respectful member of society named Colonel Russell Williams, who was the commander of an Air Force base. “It was an astonishing video which struck me in that it wasn’t hyper-
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