Review of An Interrogation at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs

Ambitious young Detective Ruth Palmer (Rosie Sheehy) does that old Columbo trick of pretending to be chaotic and dim; her smooth, respectable suspect Cameron (Jamie Ballard) is possibly hiding things, and boss John may have stepped back from the interrogation to use her as bait.

There’s also the issue of how the audience is swayed by a live-stream from cameras above, below and to the side – which allow for close-ups of nervy stares, side-eyes, and clenched fists.

Jamie Ballard’s 70-minute play comes to Hampstead following a hit run on the Edinburgh Fringe. (Image: Marc Brenner) Writer-director Jamie Armitage’s three-hander arrives in Hampstead following a warm reception at the Edinburgh Fringe, and injects urgency into this based-on-a-true-story scenario, with one dead victim, and another abducted.

We’re told on screen that the first 72 hours of such cases are crucial to success and Joanna has been missing for 68 hours already.

So Ruth anxiously presses her case about footprints and bus cameras, while calm, chilly Cameron holds forth about having breakfast with his elderly mother.

Ballard is good at keeping us guessing; there’s something decidedly off about his cold-eyed businessman, but you can’t see him cracking.

The production runs at Hampstead Theatre until February 22. (Image: Marc Brenner) And Sheehy makes for a rumpled chancer, disillusioned when she realises her gender has been exploited by her male boss.

Directed end-on in Hampstead’s small Downstairs space, the filmic element brings dynamism and intensity to a potentially static drama.

But it also invites unfair comparison to the expertly cut interview scenes in TV procedurals like Line of Duty.

Armitage is no Jed Mercurio, but it’s a promising debut, that makes you look forward to what he does next. 

An Interrogation runs at Hampstead Theatre until February 22.