Interview: STOREHOUSE co-writers Katie Lyons and Rhik Samadder

Image: Sage & Jester

Ahead of Sage & Jester's STOREHOUSE opening in Deptford next month, we spoke with two of the show's co-writers, Katie Lyons (writer for Peaky Blinders: The Rise and The Paddington Bear Experience) and Rhik Samadder (columnist for The Guardian and author of 2019's I Never Said I Loved You) to discuss why a show focusing on misinformation is so vital in today's world, how the pair became involved in the project, and what audiences will take away from STOREHOUSE.

IR: Hi Katie and Rhik! Thanks for speaking with us today. We'd love to start by finding out how you both became involved in the creation of STOREHOUSE, and what about the show’s concept, which focuses on misinformation, spoke to you when you first heard it?

Katie Lyons: I was initially brought on as a Narrative Consultant to support the early iterations of the production. That role soon evolved, and I became a co-writer, working alongside a team of theatre and experience-makers to develop what would become STOREHOUSE.

The scale of the ambition - and the urgency of the ideas we’re exploring - feels both daunting and exhilarating. As a parent of two children, I often find myself questioning, worrying, even feeling overwhelmed by what the digital landscape will look like in the years ahead and how it will shape their understanding of the world. That deeply personal concern—the human connection to these big, abstract ideas - is what drew me in and kept me invested as a writer.

Rhik Samadder: I was approached by one of the producers I’ve known for 20 years. Misinformation is such a daily part of our lives now. It’s one of the disturbing online phenomena that have become atmospheric, to the point they’re surprisingly hard to look at or examine, but they shape our real world and our future.

Photo: Helen Murray

IR: Liana Patarkatsishvili, the founder of Sage & Jester, has had first-hand experience of seeing how those with power can try to control the truth. Were there other real-life examples of misinformation that inspired the writing of the show?

Rhik: I can’t speak for Liana, as she’s so brilliant at speaking for herself, and her story is so personal and powerful. But she was always bringing our attention to totalitarian-leaning regimes across the world, which all use the same playbook. Controlling information and collapsing truth has always been every dictator’s 101. Now tech billionaires do the same, in invisible ways that most people are unknowingly complicit in, for their own unknown objectives. Well, not that unknown - it always comes down to money and power.

Katie: I live in Washington DC and the US elections coincided with the timing of the writers room for STOREHOUSE. The campaign ads, the debates, the news platforms, and the misuse of statistics were all solid examples of mis/disinformation in action on a daily basis. The writers gathered lots of articles and other real-world digital references to develop the story and characters of STOREHOUSE. Through our research and roundtable discussions, the deeper impacts of this information landscape became clear - heightened division within communities, the rise of far-right rhetoric, the othering of marginalised groups, and the pervasive spread of confusion and falsehoods across media platforms.

Photo: Helen Murray

IR: STOREHOUSE is going to be a massive show, both in subject matter and square footage at the Deptford venue. How do you go about making sure a story as large-scale as this connect with the audience on an individual level?

Katie: Throughout the development of this production, we’ve kept the audience experience front and centre of everything we do. With a work like this, so much of its meaning and impact only becomes clear once it’s shared with an audience, so we’ve intentionally built in multiple stages of audience testing. These moments allow us to learn, adapt, and better understand how people connect with the world of the show. As I’ve said before, it’s a conversation. We want to empower the audience to actively inhabit the space, not just observe it, to feel that their presence shapes the experience.

Rhik:  It can’t be abstract. You have to stage real characters with a specific problem and high stakes. The audience will connect the dots to their own experience - you have to trust that people are smart. Katie also introduced us to her idea of HIIT - High Intensity Immersive Theatre. It’s a dynamic experience style. Basically, as soon as the audience gets used to one mode of interaction, you switch it up, so they’re always figuring something out. She’s a genius.

Photo: Helen Murray

IR: STOREHOUSE is opening in a couple of weeks' time. Can you tell us a bit about what audiences can expect from the show and what you hope they'll come away from the show thinking about or feeling?

Rhik: They can expect an epic experience that will hopefully take up a permanent place in their imaginations.

Katie: There’s nothing like this. It’s vast, bold and playful—an invitation to the audience to join the conversation, to observe the mechanics of misinformation and disinformation in a really exciting, jaw-dropping theatrical playground.

Photo: Helen Murray

IR: Finally, what do you hope audiences will come away from the show thinking about or feeling?

Katie: The goal is to create an audience experience that is both surprising and unforgettable - one that leaves them not with tidy conclusions, but with provocative questions about the tools of misinformation and disinformation shaping our daily lives. They may not walk away with all the answers - we certainly don’t have them - but I want them to leave with a heightened curiosity and a more open, reflective mindset about their own engagement with social media and news platforms and the content they encounter and share.

Rhik: Audiences will take away an understanding of how certain companies and bad agents will attempt to weaponise them. And I hope they feel an overwhelming awe at our interconnectedness.

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STOREHOUSE runs from 4th June to 20th September at Deptford Storehouse. Tickets are priced from £27.50. For more information and to book tickets, visit sageandjester.com