An editor from a New York publishing house arrives in Switzerland to convince the reclusive and notoriously difficult Patricia Highsmith to write another Tom Ripley novel. That intriguing premise is the subject of Joanna Murray-Smith’s “Switzerland,” which opened Thursday at Off Broadway’s 59E59 Theater under the auspices of the Hudson Stage Company. The play was first performed in 2014 at the Sydney Theatre Company.
For the first few minutes of “Switzerland,” you might be reminded of the recent Broadway hit “The Lifespan of a Fact,” based on a real-life incident regarding a persnickety fact-checker and a recalcitrant writer who harbors an odd notion of what constitutes nonfiction. “Lifespan” made total nonsense of how the magazine world works; in fact, despite its many references to writer John D’Agata and editor Jim Fingal, much of the play was pure fiction.
Murray-Smith (“Honour” on Broadway, 1998) has a much more grounded idea of how things like articles and books get published. In “Switzerland,” the editor named Edward (Daniel Petzold) talks like he might actually work for a publishing house. Although he looks and sounds a little young for such an assignment, it makes sense that no one else at his place of employ wanted to go to Switzerland after Highsmith (Peggy J. Scott) physically threatened the life of the last editor who made the trip.
But seeing “Switzerland,” you might also understand why the “Lifespan” authors (Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell) felt the need to hoke up their drama with so much publishing malarkey, beginning with a fact-checker and an editor who fly across the country to make sure their writer hasn’t committed libel, among lesser crimes.
Editing and writing are not inherently theatrical activities; they require solitude, and an audience is anathema to the process.
“Switzerland” has the advantage that its subject isn’t a pretentious writer of magazine essays who believes he’s really writing Pulitzer Prize-worthy nonfiction. Murray-Smith’s subject is the racist, anti-Semitic, lesbian, misandric, cat-adoring, chain-smoking, alcoholic and utterly brilliant writer of “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Strangers on a Train” and other classics of suspense, apprehension and murder.
It’s very possible that the real Highsmith was not a female Oscar Wilde whose every exquisitely wrapped utterance deserved repeating. Murray-Smith makes Highsmith sound intelligent, but too often her bigotry and quirks, like raising a small farm of snails that she lets loose in her guest’s bed, register as little more than distinctly unpleasant.
The slowly evolving plot for the new Ripley novel is also something less than ingenious. Murray-Smith almost makes up for those deficiencies by delivering a good twist before the final curtain. Petzold handles the switch with great aplomb.
Scott also is a delight to watch. She doesn’t look like the real Highsmith, but reminded me of Pauline Kael if the late film critic were having a very bad day.
Dan Foster directs.
10 Best Theater Productions of 2018, From 'Ferryman' to 'Bernhardt/Hamlet' (Photos)
TheWrap theater critic Robert Hofler picks the best stage productions of the year.
10. "Bernhardt/Hamlet," by Theresa Rebeck (Broadway, Roundabout)
Sarah Bernhardt wants it all and gets it in Rebeck's grand comedy about the greatest feat of cross-dressing in the theater.
9. "Pass Over," by Antoinette Nwandu (Off Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater)
The inescapable prison of "Waiting for Godot" is turned into a Chicago street corner that two men can't escape except through death.
8. "The Ferryman," by Jez Butterworth (Broadway)
The author of "Jerusalem" borrows effectively from Friel, Steinbeck, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Riverdance in his look back at a Northern Ireland that even Margaret Thatcher would applaud. How this play will perform in Ireland, if it ever gets there, is anyone's guess.
7. "Downstairs," by Theresa Rebeck (Off Broadway, Primary Stages)
Demons lurk upstairs, as well as in the basement, where an emotionally unstable man has taken up unexpected residence in his sister's house. This thriller gets scary long before you even realize it's a thriller.
6. "Dance Nation," by Clare Barron (Off Broadway, Playwrights Horizons)
Young girls and one boy in a dance competition grow up but never leave their adolescence behind in this poignant comedy. There's nothing trivial about being 13 years old. In fact, there's nothing worse.
5. "Queens," by Martyna Majok (Off Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater)
Taking up temporary residence in a Queens, N.Y., basement, two generations of immigrant women learn lessons of survival and Americanization in this sweeping saga of hope and desperation.
4. "Skintight," by Joshua Harmon (Off Broadway, Roundabout Theatre Company)
Coping with rage after her husband's dumps her for a much younger woman, a middle-aged woman finds little comfort from a father who's about to marry a much, much younger man. Arguably the most underrated new play of the year.
3. "The House That Will Not Stand," by Marcus Gardley (Off Broadway, New York Theatre Workshop)
Gabriel Garcia Lorca tangles with Charles Ludlam in this brilliant retelling of "The House of Bernard Alba," set in a New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase.
2. "The Low Road," Bruce Norris (Off Broadway, Public Theater)
A foundling in the 18th century teaches us much about unbridled capitalism. This sprawling picaresque tale takes unexpected detours to a G8 summit as well as a sci-fi movie.
1. "Hangmen," by Martin McDonagh (Off Broadway, Atlantic Theatre Company)
The abolition of the death penalty in the U.K. doesn't prevent a retired executioner from taking one more life.
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TheWrap’s Best & Worst 2018: Visionary directors delivered amazing revivals of ”My Fair Lady,“ ”Oklahoma!“ and ”Three Tall Women,“ but great new plays dominated this year
TheWrap theater critic Robert Hofler picks the best stage productions of the year.
Robert Hofler, TheWrap's lead theater critic, has worked as an editor at Life, Us Weekly and Variety. His books include "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson," "Party Animals," and "Sexplosion: From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange, How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos." His latest book, "Money, Murder, and Dominick Dunne," is now in paperback.