'Following the success of 'Fury' in 2013, playwright Joanna Murray-Smith, director Andrew Upton and actor Sarah Peirse join forces again for a suspenseful new thriller; a fictional postulation of an episode in the life of Patricia Highsmith. The spiky novelist, best known for her creation of the very talented con artist Tom Ripley, receives an unexpected visitor at her home in Switzerland - a young man sent by her publisher with the purpose of extracting one last Ripley novel from her before she dies. Switzerland cunningly explores what happens when the spark of life that a writer puts into a character has the potential to set off a fire and destroy more than it creates.' (Source: http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/newsflash/andrew-upton-announces-sydney-theatre-company%E2%80%99s-2014-season )
Performed 3 November to 20 December 2014, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Opening: Friday 7 November 2014.
Director: Andrew Upton.
Cast including Sarah Peirse.
Produced by the Queensland Theatre Company, 21 May to 26 June 2016.
Director: Paige Rattray.
Cast including Andrea Moor.
Produced by Melbourne Theatre Company at the Sumner, Southbank Theatre, 28 September to 29 October 2016.
Director: Sarah Goodes.
Set and Costume Designer: Michael Scott-Mitchell.
Lighting Designer: Nick Schlieper.
Composer and Sound Designer: Steve Francis.
Cast: Eamon Farren and Sarah Peirse.
Produced by Black Swan Theatre Company at the Heath Ledger Theatre, 19 August to 3 September 2017.
Director: Lawrie Cullen-Tait.
Sound Designer: Ash Gibson Greig.
Cast includes Jenny Davis (Patricia Highsmith).
Produced by the State Theatre Company of South Australia at the Dunstan Playhouse, 20 October to 5 November 2017.
Director: Nescha Jelk.
Designer: Ailsa Paterson.
Composer: Jason Sweeney.
Cast includes Sandy Gore.
Presented by Ensemble Theatre, Kirribili, 3 May - 8 June 2024.
Director: Shaun Rennie.
Cast includes Toni Scanlan.
'Patricia Highsmith is all the rage at the moment, so it's a good time to stage Joanna Murray-Smith's play about the writer.'
'With Joanna Murray-Smith’s Switzerland set to open in Adelaide, Sandy Gore chats about playing the 'mercurial' author that was Patricia Highsmith and what sort of truths there are to be found in her most famous creation, Tom Ripley.
Sandy Gore says she doesn’t see herself as just an actor. Her role is more than calling out lines as part of a play; it’s to tell a story.' (Introduction)
'With Joanna Murray-Smith’s Switzerland set to open in Adelaide, Sandy Gore chats about playing the 'mercurial' author that was Patricia Highsmith and what sort of truths there are to be found in her most famous creation, Tom Ripley.
Sandy Gore says she doesn’t see herself as just an actor. Her role is more than calling out lines as part of a play; it’s to tell a story.' (Introduction)
