Cast Set For THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY at Sydney Theatre Company

A cast of some of Australia’s hottest screen and stage talent will take to the stage this August for Sydney Theatre Company’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, adapted by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Sarah Goodes – the award-winning duo behind STC hits, Julia and Switzerland.

Playing at the Roslyn Packer Theatre from 19 August, STC’s ravishing adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's glamorous thriller will star Will McDonald (Netflix’s Heartbreak High), Claude Scott-Mitchell (Binge’s The Last Anniversary), Raj Labade (Amazon Prime’s The Office), Faisal Hamza (ABC’s House of Gods), Andrew McFarlane (ABC’s The Newsreader and award-winning performance in STC’s Hubris & Humiliation) and Johnny Nasser (Heartbreak High; currently on tour with STC’s The Dictionary of Lost Words).

Commissioned by STC as part of her 2024 STC Patrick White Playwrights Fellowship, Joanna Murray-Smith says that reuniting with director Sarah Goodes to bring literature’s most alluring confidence man to life was a 'job sent from heaven': ''I have long been invested in The Talented Ms Highsmith and her wildly strange and brilliant mind. The world’s most famous serial killer has been waiting for his moment in the spotlight and it’s now”.

Discussing how the story has captivated readers and cinephiles alike, Sarah Goodes said: “It’s remarkable how enduring the appeal of The Talented Mr. Ripley remains, 70 years after Patricia Highsmith first published her novel. There’s something perennially intriguing about Tom Ripley, a character on the fringes, whose need for acceptance outweighs any moral code. The stage is the perfect setting for such rich psychological material, his slippery identity, his shame and his cunning talent for impersonation.”

She adds, “It’s a real privilege to unite once again with Joanna Murray-Smith and Sydney Theatre Company to bring the mercurial Tom Ripley to life with this outstanding cast and creative team.”

A powerhouse creative team has been assembled to masterfully transform this seductive page-turner into an electrifying, world-premiere stage experience including, Set Designer Elizabeth Gadsby, Costume Designer Emma White, Lighting Designer Damien Cooper, Composer and Sound Designer Steve Francis, Assistant Director Kenneth Moraleda, Movement Director Charmene Yap, and Fight Director Tim Dashwood.

Will McDonald (Heartbreak High) plays Tom Ripley, an orphan and a striver, barely scraping by in 1950s New York. But beneath his woebegone exterior, Tom cultivates certain talents that set him apart: an extraordinary capacity for mimicry and deception. He is a man with a face no-one remembers.

Whereas no one could forget Dickie Greenleaf (Raj Labade). He is everything Tom isn’t; confident, stylish, and heir to a large fortune. Tom is hired by Dickie’s father (Andrew McFarlane) to bring his son home and so plunges him into a glittering world of luxury, beauty and hedonism on the Italian Riviera. Intoxicated with this new social scene, Tom begins to fashion himself after his target. He begins dancing like Dickie, dressing like him, and drinking like him. Tom begins to imagine another version of himself. A better one... and he’ll kill for it.  

Also featuring Faisal Hamza (Freddie Miles), Johnny Nasser (Inspector Roverini) and Claude Scott-Mitchell (Marge Sherwood), The Talented Mr. Ripley promises tension, passion and spectacular suspense.