Review: Interview (Riverside Studios)

Review by Sam Waite

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I can only be real on camera,” says Katya, an influencer-turned-actor and the subject of the titular conversation in Teunkie Van Der Sluijs’ Interview. Though the line garnered a few laughs on opening night, it is delivered without a hint of irony, and acts a central statement on much of what Interview seeks to explore in this world premiere at Hammersmith's Riverside Studios. Who are we, after all, if not who the wider world perceives us to be?

Based on Theo van Gogh’s 2003 film, later adapted by Steve Buscemi for American audiences, Interview spends an evening in real-time with Katya and political correspondent Pierre. He thinks the assignment, both subject matter and subject, are beneath him, while she immediately prickles at his dismissive, unprepared attempts to question her on life and career trajectory. Throughout the night, a battle of wits finds the pair vying for the upper hand, each proving a shrewd, manipulative force.

Cultured soul that I am, I've yet to see either the original film or the 2007 remake, leaving the onus on Van Der Sluijs and co to bring me into this world. This begins, following a brief monologue from leading man Robert Sean Leonard, with a multimedia onslaught that would leave Evan Hansen shaking. Design duo idontloveyouanymore (Anna West and Davi Callanan) flood the painted bricks of Katya’s loft with newsreels, social media posts, and the always-delightful comments that come with them. It's thrilling to see the phone screens and video feeds come and go, and introducers the assorted plights of public perception as comments shift from “she went from influencer to actress overnight… still waiting for the acting” to choice four-letter words alongside accusations of hating other women.

This is also our earliest sign that Van Der Sluijs has brought the story into the 2020s, the soap star of 2003 and the tabloid darling of ’07 now replaced by a media-savvy blonde parlaying her unboxings into big screen credits. The writer-director shows a clear knowledge of the shift in how celebrity is attained, and how young people engage with both their idols and the larger world around them. When discussing his daughter's teen years, Tumblr and Fall Out Boy are key features, and Katya pointedly questions his paper’s readership compared to her own fifteen-million followers.

Where weakness shows in his work is when the two characters are tasked with simply being human beings, with no grander message to share or theme to explore. His script is packed with wry humour and cutting remarks, but both characters risk becoming stilted during less dramatic lines. While the actors of course share responsibility for the parts that don't connect as clearly, it's hard not to wonder if their director has tried for an emotional distance that has obstructed not just the characters but their audience too from building a real relationship with them. Although, with an hour and a half runtime, Interview has plenty of snark and more than enough scandal to see it through.

Paten Hughes, an original member of The Old Vic New Voices Network, takes on the role of Katya – influencer, actor, socialite, probably a beauty guru, I can only imagine the debut alt-pop single is being teased as we speak. Hughes pulls of a nice sense of airiness in delivery of early lines, where inconsistencies pointed out in her lineage are treated as if she simply wasn't paying attention, a quality Hughes employs only periodically but to great effect. Some dialogue, spoken in a deliberately affected monotone, can make it difficult to gauge whether she is keeping up the character's enigma or struggling to put the subtleties across, but the performance comes alive when Hughes leans sharply into the indignity and perpetual underestimations that come packaged with her status as a gen Z woman.

Opposite her, Robert Sean Leonard’s character, war vet turned political correspondent (turned celebrity interviewer) Pierre, is more consistent in part because the role has a built-in combination of condescension and defeatedness to bridge the gaps between more dynamic displays. Leonard, too, is most powerful in moments of pain, bringing long-buried struggles to the surface and performing the character’s anguishes and frustrations well. When not forcing one another to a safe distance, Leonard and Hughes have a crackling, lively chemistry which helps to sell the fast friendship and even faster clashing.

As I mentioned previously, idontloveyouanymore provide strong visual materials to pepper the backdrop of Derek McLane’s spacious, suitably trendy and deliberately characterless loft apartment. These contributions are most effective where they directly serve the narrative, such as allowing us to see what is happening on either person’s phone screen, or when videos both pre-recorded and seemingly streamed live from the stage create that blend of separation and intimacy that only a camera can. While moments of the voice notes app trailing its peaks and valleys across the while is certainly a strong visual touch, after the first use it does become more of a distraction than anything, the projections being most welcome when offering additional insights into these closely guarded characters.

Where the director and his cast share a clear and unified vision is in the mannerisms and energy levels of the duo. War-wounded in more ways than one and having dedicated much of his life to serious topics and real journalism, Pierre is more utilitarian in his movement, his energy not wasted on the exertion or else simply not there to use. Meanwhile Katya is forever moving from one task to another, straightening up as she goes and bringing a frenetic, nervous energy to the performance. The other side of this is that when she moves more wildly in an outward show of her performative nature, the movements are too measured, too visibly choreographed to come across as the spontaneity intended. Perhaps this is deliberate, as we know by then that we see only fleetingly the real Katya, but some will simply find it noticeably false.

There is a lot to like about Interview when the show is at its best, with barbs tossed between Katya and Pierre and some truly engaging explorations of the nature of celebrity and how a person's public persona can differ from the person beneath. Unfortunately, these themes, though they make up the undercurrent of the production, don't always get the level of focus they deserve. Still, for those willing to fill in the thematic gaps for themselves, the multiple twists and visually engaging projections mean that the show is certainly never stagnant, and there are plenty of laughs to be had at the expense of both characters.

With two official remakes (a Hindi-language Indian film was released in 2021, after a decade-long delay) and this newest version having enough modern touches to be fully accessible to a new audience, there is clearly a demand for Interview. Indeed, press night drew plenty of laughter and some lively discussions overheard while exiting the theatre, and while this production wasn't a consistent winner for me, I don't doubt it will find an audience among fans of the film(s) and others who gel better with Van Der Sluijs’ approach to these ever-resonant themes.

Interview plays at Riverside Studios until September 27th

For tickets and information visit https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/interview-194864/

Photos by Helen Murray