'I like to have a goal, a hopeful thing' - one-to-watch Glasgow actor and CBBC star Lola on stage debut

“I have had a few pinch-me moments, it hasn’t quite sunk in,” smiles the 20-year-old, who is studying acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

“Working on this is amazing – such a unique experience.”

This is Interiors, Vanishing Point’s ambitious and astonishing play about events unfolding behind the window of a grand house.

The awardwinning production, now in its 12th year, has toured extensively and internationally since it was first seen in Naples in 2009, winning many awards and much acclaim from critics and audiences alike along the way.

Behind a window, a group of friends gather for a meal. There is laughing, flirting, joking, eating and dancing – but the audience, positioned behind the window, hear none of it. The mood changes with the appearance of a mysterious stranger outside the window, whose voice is the only one heard.

“It is a very different experience for audiences, and I feel very excited to be part of that,” says Lola, who plays a young woman on the verge of adulthood, enduring an awkward date.

“There is a perception that theatre has to be a certain way, but Interiors opens up a new world of what theatre can be.”

Before the RCS, Lola completed an HND in Television Production at the City of Glasgow College.

“I wanted to make sure I broadened my horizons and was as versatile as I could be,” she explains. “Now, more than any time, when there is such uncertainty, seems like the best time to have done so.”

Lola was born in Nigeria, moved to England as a young child and came to Scotland at the start of high school.

“My goal in high school was the RCS, always the RCS,” she smiles. “But I also knew it was hard to get into and competitive. I knew that when I applied to go there, I had to be as prepared as I possibly could be. When I got to sixth year, I didn’t feel I was at that point, and I thought I needed more experience, so I went to college, and did theatre classes at the weekend.”

It is a level-headed approach to a challenging industry, 20-year-old Lola agrees. “I do like to have a plan, an idea of how I’m getting from A to B,” she smiles. “I like to have a goal – a hopeful thing.”

In 2018, Lola signed up with an agent and an incredible opportunity landed in her lap.

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“I got my first ever professional job, in the CBBC television drama The Demon Headmaster,” she explains. “It was such a turnaround moment for me, I couldn’t believe it. I was nervous, but it was wonderful.”

If The Demon Headmaster was her big break, it is Vanishing Point’s Interiors which will firmly cement her ‘one-to-watch’ status.

“It has been a little surreal juggling this with my studies,” smiles Lola. “But I’m keeping up with it all.”

She adds, seriously: “I like to have goals I want to reach in my career – for example, I would at some point like to set up a project for people who may not have the chance to be involved in theatre, who do not see themselves on the stage.

“But I also don’t want to trap myself within those goals – I always want to be open to every opportunity and know I have absolutely done my best. Then I won’t have any regrets.”

Interiors is at the Beacon in Greenock tonight and tomorrow, then the Barbican in London from February 2 to 5.