Impressive performances and production values – but Joanna Murray-Smith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley doesn’t quite land

By Kirk Dodd, Lecturer in English and Writing, University of Sydney

Playwright Joanna Murray-Smith has a long held fascination with the brilliance of Patricia Highsmith, who published the classic novel The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1955.

In 2014, Murray-Smith’s Switzerland explored Highsmith’s life, directed by Sarah Goodes for the Sydney Theatre Company. Now, Goodes directs Murray-Smith’s new adaptation of Highsmith’s novel, continuing their engagements with the author’s morally ambiguous characters.…

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