The Performance: The Talented Mr Ripley
The Theatre: The Playhouse at the Arts Centre
Runtime: Two and a quarter hours. (No interval)
Until: 23 November
Stars: 4.5
I understand that not everybody likes going to the theatre. But if you're going to see one thing this year, something that's aesthetically glorious, well-acted, approachable and just a delight, then maybe this is it. The Talented Mr Ripley, based on the book by Patricia Highsmith and adapted into a play by one of Australia's most celebrated playwrights, Joanna Murray-Smith.
It's great.
Okay, I have a bias. I love the 1999 movie with Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. I'm also a fan of the series on Netflix. Ripley is an enigma. A sociopath. A person who you love to hate, but you have to admire his chutzpah. He's slippery. All of this is a part of his charm.
For those who aren't aware of the plot, Tom Ripley (Will McDonald) is a grifter who's asked by a rich industrialist Herbert Greenleaf (Andrew McFarlane) to bring his son Dicky (Roman Delo) back from Italy, where he is living with his girlfriend Marge (Claude Scott Mitchell). Ripley is obsessive in becoming invaluable to Dicky. However, when things go awry and he begins to fall out of favour with Dicky, the consequences are grave. Ripley then starts to live as Dicky, moving from the coast to Rome. When an old friend of Dicky's shows up, Ripely does what he has to do to ensure he's not found out.
Will McDonald is a near perfect Ripley. Charming and self-doubting in equal measure. He's incredibly easy to watch as he slips his way into Dicky Greenleaf's (Roman Delo) live. The two bat off each other with ease. The rest of the cast, Faizal Hamza, Claude Scott Mitchell, Andrew McFarlane and Johnny Nasser give great support to the two main characters.
Set in the early 60s, the costumes for this production are divine - Emma White's costumes are to die for. It takes us back to a time when men really knew how to dress.
I also loved the stripped back, minimalist staging. Elizabeth Gadsby's set worked to the plays advantage as sets and props were easily wheeled on and off the stage, with one door at the back which acted as everything from a wardrobe to a bathroom to the door to a balcony in Venice. It was done so well. Interested and engaging and it supported the action on the stage.
Sarah Goodes direction is impeccable too. With a two hour and fifteen-minute run time, this is a long play, especially without an interval, but the action keeps you going. It also has enough light and shade within the action so that you don't get too uncomfortable. Fans know what's going to happen - but you aren't sitting there clinging to your seat either.
Oh, and they have Violent Femmes songs as a part of the soundtrack. Love the Violent Femmes.
This performance started out in Sydney and has transferred down here. (Just as the Red Stitch Theatre Company's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is playing up there with the STC at the moment.) It's wonderful that we get to see the best of the best. If you're going to get a ticket to something, I'd suggest make it this one. It's great.
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