REVIEW: Psychological Thriller THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY at The Sydney Theatre Company Stage

While many people have probably felt like the outsider, given tokenistic acknowledgement from the “popular” or “trendy” set, The Talented Mr. Ripley considers one person who didn’t simply decide to move on with his life, but rather take the life he wanted, no matter the cost.  Joanna Murray-Smith’s stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 psychological thriller novel is bought to the Sydney Theatre Company stage by Director Sarah Goodes.

The first and possibly best known of Patricia Highsmith’s “Ripliad” series, The Talented Mr. Ripley shares the life of young con artist Tom Ripley (Will McDonald).  Told from Ripley’s point of view, the audience is given the opportunity to see the world through the man with the forgettable face’s mind.  Making ends meet in New York by perpetrating a series of smaller scale scams, the 20-something hits payday when wealthy shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf (Andrew McFarlane) incorrectly assumes that Tom knows his wayward son Richard, “Dickie” (Raj Labade) and presents him with the task of going to Italy to retrieve the aspiring painter, first class voyage and all expenses paid and a generous allowance of course.  What Greenleaf Senior isn’t expecting is that Ripley’s dislike and distain for the arrogance and obnoxiousness of his mark will also become entwined with a jealousy and desire for the easy luxury life that becomes all consuming to the point that he will not let anything, or anyone stand in his way of obtaining it.

Joanna Murray-Smith’s adaptation of Highsmith’s novel centres the story on Ripley, Dickie, Herbert, along with Dickie’s girlfriend Marge (Claude Scott-Mitchell), fellow rich-kid friend Freddie (Faisal Hamza) and Italian Police Inspector Rolverini (Johnny Nasser) rounding out the sextet, simplifying the work to fit into 2 hours of theatre, presented without interval.  This economy of characters is echoed through set designer Elizabeth Gadsby’s sparse set that relies on Ripley’s monologues to conjure images in the audience’s imagination with the ‘reality’ gradually increasing as Ripley gradually turns his fiction into his realty.  The surreal nature of the work is reinforced by the variety of transitions Gadsby employs, with spotlights lights on counterweights, billowing curtains flown in from above and walls that close in when Ripley thinks his ruse has been discovered.  Gadsby’s set is paired with Emma White’s costuming and Damien Cooper’s lighting design to show the contrast between Ripley’s monochrome dull world of mundane routine in Manhattan and Dickie’s colour and light filled world of entitled ease in the fictional seaside town of Mongibello, somewhere in southern Italy. 

As the arrogant and carefree heir to a shipping fortune, Raj Labade ensures that Dickie Greenleaf is the right balance of obnoxious yet intriguing and alluring enough to warrant the adoration of friends and hangers-on.  He conveys the condescending tone that those that think they are superior to others carry while presenting a façade of civility but in reality, they’ll discard people when they get bored of them.  He is matched in this attitude by Claude Scott-Mitchell’s expression of Marge, a woman from Wisconsin who probably isn’t really of the same social standing as Dickie but has become just as snobby as him and when this is paired with jealousy towards Ripley, makes her a thoroughly unlikable character.  Rounding out the trio of entitled young Americans is Faisal Hamza’s portrayal of Freddie.  Between the three they ensure there is an element of “they got what was coming”, though Ripley’s manner of balancing the scales was a bit extreme. 

Andrew McFarlane’s portrayal of Dickie’s father conveys a naivety throughout, showing that Dickie doesn’t get his entitled arrogance from his father as the older man seemed more relived to find someone to do his bidding rather than being concerned that he found Ripley in a seedy bar.  Johnny Nasser’s Inspector Rolverini adds a level of suspense and tension to the work as he’s always just moments from exposing the truth and while he appears to be efficient, fails to be effective, taken in by Ripley’s cover stories. 

The focus of the work is however Ripley and Will McDonald presents him with an confidence and candour making him likeable, even when he’s descended into his psychopathic depths as even though most would thankfully not resort to the measures Ripley employs, many would have likely thought that the entitled and arrogant needed to be taken down a peg or two.  McDonald shifts easily between the dialogue of the scenes and the direct to audience monologues where Ripley’s personal thoughts and feelings are shared so the truth of his deception is made clear.  The increasing battle between normality and the sociopathic breaks are played with clarity so the inner conflict is clear.

This new interpretation of a work that has been presented in many forms over the years, from film, radio, television and other stage shows, tells the story cleanly while still retaining the requisite level of suspense this thriller deserves.  Told with artful ‘simplicity’ Sarah Goodes ensures the medium of live performance and the story remains the focus which is refreshing in a era when many shows opt for technology to be the driving force. 

The Talented Mr. Ripley - Sydney Theatre Company