From Music Videos to the Stage: Saam Farahmand’s Electrifying Theatre Debut

Director Saam Farahmand has always thrived in the spaces where identity, spectacle, and rebellion collide. A filmmaker, artist, and genre-blurring innovator, he’s earned a reputation as a director who doesn’t only push boundaries, but happily ignores them. From surreal music videos for Rihanna and Mick Jagger, to installation art shown at the Hayward Gallery and Frieze, Saam’s work resists categorisation. It’s visceral, unfiltered, and wired with a kind of beautiful chaos.

Now, he’s doing something even more unexpected: theatre.

Saam’s first play, ‘PRETENDER’, debuts at Playhouse East on Monday April 28th. Billed as a “provocative, claustrophobic two-hander for the algorithm age,” the piece sees a viral mimic with millions of followers confront a disgraced screen legend in a locked cinema. It’s part psychological warfare, part meditation on performance in the digital age.

For a director known for his subversive visual language and experiments with form (he once choreographed live chemical reactions at the Barbican), the shift to theatre might seem like a pivot. But scratch the surface, and ‘PRETENDER’ feels like the logical next step in his ongoing interrogation of fame, authenticity, and the ways we perform for an audience – on or off screen.

Whether directing commercials for Nike, documentaries on dance music, or now, writing scripts for the stage, Saam’s obsession remains consistent: the tension between the gloss of pop culture and the raw, unpredictable humanity underneath, in his own words.

LBB’s Zoe Antonov sat down with Saam ahead of opening night to catch up.

LBB> You started out at Goldsmiths exploring art and music – what first drew you to the work behind the camera? Was there a specific moment that made you realize film could be your language?

Saam> There wasn’t exactly one moment but after painting and sculpture I moved to video, it was hard to go back.

LBB> Your early work at MTV2, especially the ‘Gay Bar’ video, had this rebellious energy to it – do you still feel connected to that version of yourself, or has your creative approach evolved?

Saam> Oh man, yeah. I think behind the work there's always some relationship between the gloss of pop culture and the mess of people. And there’s lots of details that point to that dynamic. I’ve tried over the years to find those and build them into whatever story the project was trying to tell.

LBB> You’ve worked across so many mediums: music video, commercial, installation, documentary, and now theatre. Is there a common thread or obsession that runs through it all?

Saam> I guess the theme I described above. I don’t think mediums or formats ever lead the idea. It is invariably accidental or personal, how things come together beyond what I mentioned above about the cross section between pop culture and the mess of people.

LBB> ‘PRETENDER’ is your first play, but it feels very in line with your work: identity, performance, and confinement. What made you want to explore this particular story on stage?

Saam> It tests the idea that someone can master acting overnight, which works well as a demanding hour-long play without breaks. Plays are such a live medium and we’re testing that exactly with the story, and I really feel we’ve got it to a perfectly unexpected and compelling place. I’m excited to share it and see how people react.

LBB> The play centers on a mimic and a disgraced legend. How do you see this reflecting our current culture of virality, influence, and burnout?

Saam> I think it reflects on the idea of who deserves the stage. It’s also about the bloodsport of celebrity and entertainment.

LBB> Much of your work interrogates image-making, celebrity, spectacle, the digital self. Is it critique, fascination, or something in between?

Saam> I think it’s a result (or victim) of these themes, and maybe that's how it becomes an interrogation.

LBB> You’ve collaborated with massive pop icons – Rihanna, Mick Jagger, Janet Jackson. How do you maintain your voice in those high-profile, high-control environments?

Saam> Honestly I don’t, in those instances I aim to help them find their voice. It’s as much an experience of sharing or finding that voice for me as it is for them. Every job is just so different and you have to roll with that.

LBB> From choreographing chemical reactions to shooting underwater with Cirque du Soleil, your ideas always push the form. Where does that urge to innovate come from?

Saam> I think it’s not fair to take up people’s time anymore unless there’s a very good reason to.

LBB> You’ve won major awards, yet your work still feels subversive. Is that intentional? Do you see yourself as an outsider in the industry?

Saam> Oh my god yes, I am an outsider. No one likes my stuff, I’m always being told I’m too weird or dark. I think I’ll always be cursed with this. Recently someone mentioned turning the darkness into comedy so I’m flirting with that idea.

LBB> Do you approach directing a play differently than a film?

Saam> Yes, so differently. It’s like two people being stuck in a lift with you for two months and you only have one bottle of water for them to share.

LBB> Finally, what’s inspiring you right now? What’s feeding the next idea?

Saam> I have no idea, honestly I cannot think past what is going to happen on the stage at Playhouse East in May.

I have a PhD academic who has taken her first acting role and an ex children’s TV presenter who the tabloids tried to cancel in the ‘80s, at each other’s throats in very demanding roles.

I don’t think film or theatre can change the world but it can do something with how we think about the world – it's definitely done it for me. I am continually inspired by the feeling of jumping into things.