The Talented Ms. Highsmith
After a NY Premiere this past spring, Joanna Murray-Smith's thrilling ride into the mind of celebrated crime novelist Patricia Highsmith (creator of Tom Ripley, of Talented Mr. fame) transfers to the 59E59 theatre as part of the winter season. As twisting and suspenseful as one of Highsmith's own creations, Switzerland invites us to the reclusive author's home high in the Swiss Alps, where the writer sits a world away from her suave manipulator Ripley, bemoaning her life, work and publisher through a haze of vitriol and cigarette smoke.
When a besuited young man said publisher comes knocking, begging her to publish one more Ripley tale, she and the interloper begin an uneasy dance across a plot that could only come from the pages of a book, or could it? Sinister, deftly written and sharper than a pin head, this riveting new play from promising Australian playwright Smith is poised to keep you guessing, giving you a further chill on a dark winter's night.
Originating in Australia in 2015, Switzerland has enjoyed a highly praised run in New York and is soon to open in a separate production in London, where it is marked by The Guardian and the Sunday Times as a must see this season.