Following their sold-out run in Bristol last week, Misplaced Theatre now bring their intense production of Joanna Murray-Smith’s two-hander play Switzerland to Bath, to enthral and entrap unsuspecting audiences in a spellbinding evening of psychological power games, twisted motivations and the stripping away of veneers.
Image © Jordan Davies / @jgdphotography
Switzerland is set in the final days of the life of crime queen Patricia Highsmith, renowned principally for the Mr Ripley quintet as well as her debut novel Strangers on a Train.
By this time, Highsmith had turned her back on the States and lived first in England, then France, before settling in Switzerland where her tales of sociopathy and murderous sexuality were more revered.
Highsmith was a complex and difficult character, displaying a keen grasp of human psychology on the written page whilst simultaneously being a misanthrope, racist and anti-Semite, whose attempted relationships with women all failed when they became too close, and who eventually preferred the company of cats and, yes, snails in her Swiss hermitage.
The only long-lasting relationship in her otherwise lesbian life, in fact, appears to have been with her seductively amoral anti-hero Tom Ripley…
At the play’s opening, Edward Ridgeway, an enthusiastic young envoy from Highsmith’s New York publishing company, travels to her hideaway to persuade her to commit to writing a final Ripley novel.
Highsmith feels she has no more to say about Ripley, and has little time for the seemingly naive delegate. But as Ridgeway himself states, you can’t judge a book by its cover, and Highsmith is not always in the driving seat.
Claudia Wicki is a scabrous, erudite and antagonistic Highsmith, firing endless verbal poison darts at Ridgeway with clear relish. Her shambolic appearance and endless drinking conceal a razor-sharp mind, and her beautifully-timed bitter retorts (“happy people are just people who don’t ask enough questions”, she snarls) wring guilty laughs from the audience, before she reveals an unexpected vulnerability in Act Two.
Louie Wanless as Ridgeway meanwhile begins as an elusive character whose fresh-faced optimism and ambition do not fully convince, but by the end of the play we realise this is part of a masterfully nuanced performance.
Looking initially like a nervous young Justin Timberlake in a trying-too-hard suit, Wanless gradually exposes the darker layers of his role, and his transformation is expertly developed.
The two actors share a tangible chemistry whether as enemies or allies (or even potential lovers), holding the audience in rapt attention throughout. If there were a pin dropping, it would be clearly heard.
Director Tara Lacey keeps a firm hand on the claustrophobia of the piece, using distance, closeness and occasional touch very effectively, whilst keeping up the pace of this highly wordy play, whilst allowing charged moments of pause, silence and music to heighten suspense and mood.
Anita Gander’s design effectively conjures up the dated lived-in hermit hideaway, adding intriguingly empty picture frames (or are they blank windows?) which may just be reflections of Ripley’s elusive unfathomable character.
And Billie Jo-Rainbird brings some striking moments of lighting in the second act to enhance the claustrophobic menace.
Misplaced Theatre bring Bath audiences a rare opportunity to see this challenging, entrancing and sometimes surreal play where little is as it first appears.
It’s a voyage into the author’s heart of darkness, and this highly confident production delivers a chilling, funny and suspenseful ride. Just pray that Mr Ripley is not also on board.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Reviewer: Steve Huggins
