The Talented Mr. Ripley

International and award-winning theatre ensemble The Faction present THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY as an inventive and bold re-imagining of Patricia Highsmith’s famous novel. “Do you ever have the feeling you’re being watched?”

Unless you have been living under a rock those past few decades, the plot of THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (both the Highsmith novel and the various film adaptations) is well known, revolving around young New Yorker Tom Ripley (Ed McVey) whose existence, well, his material existence to be more precise, seems to be a never-ending struggle…with Ripley reduced to dabble in dodgy dealings. What can one say - needs must when the devil drives! The devil is about to drive much faster when a certain Herbert Greenleaf (Christopher Bianchi), wealthy shipping magnate and the father of Dickie (Bruce Herbelin-Earle), approaches our struggling protagonist with an offer he can’t resist: wrongly assuming that Dickie is a good friend of Ripley’s (in fact, he can barely remember him) he entrusts Ripley with traveling all the way to Bella Italia (where Dickie enjoys ‘la dolce vita’) to take him back to New York, so he may join daddy’s firm. Oh, and there is an upfront $600 Dollar travel cheque to boot, with further payments should Ripley be in need.

From the outset, we know that Ripley is a chancer and a calculating schemer, not to mention an expert liar who tells Herbert and his wife porkies about his student days at Princeton university before quickly changing the subject, lest Herbert demands to see documentation to provide evidence. And because Ripley is such an accomplished liar, he tricks Herbert into believing that he is in fact much better friends with his son than he actually is. The deal is done and Ripley is off to to (fictional) Mongibello in Italy where it doesn’t take him long to track down Dickie. Although he doesn’t have any recollection of his supposedly good friend from years ago, Dickie invites him to stay in his lush summer house, together with his friend Marge Sherwood (Maisie Smith).

As the days float by and the three enjoy cocktails, sunshine and all that comes with it, Ripley suddenly appears to be a lot less interested in taking Dickie back to his native New York. Instead, he fantasises about Dickie’s wealth, his lavish playboy lifestyle and the fact that someone like him would never have to resort to dodgy dealings in order to bolster his bank account. What would it be like to be Dickie Greenwood and more to the point, what would it take to become Dickie Greenwood? As Ripley’s friendship with Dickie intensifies, so does his dislike of Marge, who by now has become romantically involved with the wealthy lad, despite him mentioning earlier on that he would never marry her. Marge, in her naivety, thinks he will. Ripley also takes a dislike to Freddie Miles (Cary Crankson), a good friend of Dickie’s who pops in and out. The feeling of dislike is, in any case, mutual.

We all know how the story continues and what Ripley ultimately does to ensure he too can enjoy Dickie’s lifestyle. Yes, by murdering him and taking on his persona, all the while fooling those around him as well as the Italian police and Dickie’s dad. In turns they keep wondering what happened to Dickie… What happened to Ripley…

It’s a clever set-up alright although at times, Ed McVey’s ‘Ripley’ (despite delivering the whole gamut of the character’s inner turmoil and emotions) comes across as almost too frantic when more cold-blooded menace would have been called for. This, of course, is not a flaw on McVey’s part but is down to the direction. For example, the scene in which Ripley batters Dickie to death with an oar feels more like a crime of passion (subtle undercurrents of homosexual tendencies are suggested) than a crime of pure greed. And greed and jealousy are meant to be the driving forces possessing Ripley’s mind who, at times, reminds of the dual personality embodied by Jekyll and Hyde. In truth, there isn’t a dual personality in Ripley, even when battling with his various thoughts, insecurities and schemes: he is a psychopath through and through, all the while fooling people with his charm. As manifold as Tom Ripley’s schemes and emotions are, unfortunately the same can’t be said for the set design and to call it bare and minimalist is an understatement! Basically, we are talking about a huge, square-shaped platform with a square-shaped hole in the middle on which the action is played out, with the occasional prop wheeled across the stage suggesting a New York office, an Italian summerhouse, an Italian hotel room, a nightclub and last but not least, Dickie’s boat.

Bold and inventive it might be but for this reviewer, the set didn’t quite work - it’s rather difficult to find yourself transported to all the various locations in which the story plays out. In this case, less is certainly not more and the production would have benefitted from some additional backdrop screens. It gets odder still when, during the scene in which Ripley finds himself confronted by Marge, who quizzes him following Dickie’s mysterious disappearance, we are suddenly on a film set with the director’s voice yelling ‘Cut’ before Ripley proceeds with the next staple of lies as to what may have happened to Dickie. Granted, iIt’s a witty idea but doesn’t contribute much to the storyline as such.
The performances are hugely satisfactory all ‘round, foremost of course Ed McVey who barely gets a chance to catch his breath, given the humongous amount of dialogue he has to deliver.

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY runs until Saturday, Sept 20th and tickets can be purchased via: www.capitaltheatres.com


Photo credit: Mark Senior