Little Lark of London

“We all want to be seen”

Interview tells the story of, as one might guess, an interview between Pierre Peters (Robert Sean Leonard), a former war correspondent, and Katya (Paten Hughes), a young woman – never given a last name – who has made her name as a social media influencer and is now starring in films. The interview is meant to focus on Katya’s newest film, Foreign Bodies 3, but things don’t go exactly to plan, as both interviewer and interviewee find themselves at odds with one another. 

The work originally began its life as a film in 2003, directed by Theo van Gogh and Theodor Holman, with the idea coming from Hans Teeuwen. It was then remade by Steve Buscemi in 2007. A fews years after that, a Hindi remake premiered, The interview: Night of 26/11. Now, over twenty years after the film first premiered, Teunkie van der Sluijs brings Pierre and Katya’s story to the stage, taking on the roles of both director and adaptor. This adaptation takes the plot from the 2000s to the 2020s, as as Katja was originally a soap opera actress in van Gogh’s film and is now taking the world by storm on Instagram and TikTok. 

Audiences are introduced to Pierre as he sits in front of the stage’s curtain, talking to someone named Theo when gazing out to the audience. Through context clues, we learn the two are in a hospital, and Pierre is venting his frustrations at being left out of his world of political journalism, as the Vice President is being impeached in Washington, D.C. and he is being sent to Brooklyn to interview an actress he’s never heard of. The curtains open and Katya’s apartment is revealed, in an intricate set designed by Derek McLane that oozes new wealth in New York City. Katya then makes her entrance, dropping bags at the door as she chats on the phone, Pierre trailing behind her in confusion. 

Social media is brought to the stage through the video design of  idontloveyouanymore, whose work is projected on the white brick walls of Katya’s apartment. While most of the images flashed on the stage show Katya’s social media presence, there are also moments of political unrest displayed, particularly when it comes to the Vice President’s impending impeachment and the general unrest in the United States (sound familiar?). One can feel the second hand embarrassment emanating from the audience as Katya pulls Pierre into an Instagram Live session, with the poor man having no idea what’s happening as Katya claims she’s just brought 20,000 new readers to his publication in mere minutes. 

The show is built as a kind of cat and mouse game between Pierre and Katya, with neither person being a fan of the other’s work and each trying to outdo one another with questions and mind games. Pierre believes that his form of journalism is what truly matters, emphasing the importance of the truth, while Katya argues that she has far more reach with her social media accounts, claiming that she has built the narrative around herself and therefore has leverage over those around her. It soon becomes clear that both know more about the other than they are letting on, with Pierre admitting to his knowledge of social media through his daughter “posting Fall Out Boy lyrics on Tumblr” and Katya asking Pierre some hard-hitting questions of her own. 

As a journalist myself, I couldn’t help but finding myself struggling with the concept. What PR team, in 2025, would allow a journalist to visit the home of an influencer, with no person there to observe? It may have been a bit more believable in the early 2000s, but certainly not in the post MeToo era. There is also little chemistry between the two, leading to some moments that are menat to be passionate feeling pretty forced. There are times in which the pair attempt to bond, including a strange bit where they sing Oasis together – maybe to appeal to the UK audience? 

And, when it comes to the character of Katya, it quickly becomes clear that the person who has reworked her character for the 2020s doesn’t actually truly understand influencers and their world. She makes claims about her background that Pierre quickly disputes with his own knowledge of geography, but these lies are never brought up after they are called out. Hughes is quick with her lines and dances around the stage under the direction of Christina Fulcher, but her character feels incredibly underdeveloped, with her simply wanting to prove Pierre wrong because she believes every man is out to get her. 

Ultimately, Interview is a play with an interesting concept, questioning the role of old-fashioned journalism versus the modern world of social media, but struggles to actually be the “seductive psychological thriller” it claims to be. Both Leonard and Hughes are talented but lack chemistry, making it difficult to understand the pull the two characters have towards one another. The preachiness from the writer about things like followers and likes also gets very heavy-handed and frustrating, taking away from the quick back and forths between the two actors. 

Interview runs from 23 August to 27 September at Riverside Studios. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.