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CurtainUp The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
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A CurtainUp Review Switzerland
In the Hudson Stage Company presentation of Switzerland, Highsmith is now age 74 and ailing, a multi-layered talented and sexually conflicted loner. She resents never having earned the success of "lesser" writers like Tom Wolfe and Kurt Vonnegut. "Tom Wolfe, what a joke!," she scoffs. In this play by Joanna Murray-Smith, Patricia Highsmith, played by Peggy J. Scott, is a virtuoso of venom and the focus of a taut chiller, a play she herself might have written. The set is a neat cottage with a window opening on an snow-capped mountain view and immaculately exhibited with her collection of oddities, vinyl recordings, and her cherished weapons, swords, daggers and pistols. Highsmith is working on her latest novel at a 1956 Olympia Deluxe typewriter, surrounded by packs of Camels and bottles of Scotch. Her life is solitary, occasionally interrupted with a recording of a classic show tune like "Happy Talk" from South Pacific. She lives in the company of cats and a collection of snails. "I like watching them copulate," she tells the earnest young visitor, Edward Ridgeway (Daniel Petzold), who has suddenly shown up at her door. Highsmith knows who he is, an emissary from her New York publisher who traveled to Tegne, Switzerland, hoping to persuade her to write one last book for her Ripley series. He has a contract ready to sign but she is not ready to sign anything, snapping, "I'm done with Ripley." These words lead into 90 minutes of verbal slashes of cutting reality, pain and degradation by each side. Ridgeway's sly attempts of persuasiveness are smacked back with Highsmith's stinging authority. She is the sharper mind but Ridgeway is wily with a calculated plan of his own and gradually the character Tom Ripley steps into the plot. Director Dan Foster guides a stellar cast of two, Scott and Petzold, both portraying unlikeable characters only slightly leavened with ambiguity and wit. In their own ways, they exchange the selfishness driving them to use each other and keeps the audience watching and waiting for one to fall. The wall of lethal weapon collection augments the tension with a hint at a possible death. Scott ( Daniel's Husband and TV's House of Cards ) brings out Highsmith's imbued hatred, bigotry and jealousies. Even her associates back in the United State, like publisher Otto Penzler, famously believed, "{Highsmith} was a mean, cruel, hard, unlovable, unloving human being ... I could never penetrate how any human being could be that relentlessly ugly. ... But her books? Brilliant." Peggy Scott, however, comes just short of the total malevolence needed, showing a glimpse of Highsmith's vulnerability even as she lovingly strokes an antique Derringer or sleek dagger. Petzold's portrait of Edward Ridgeway is more layered, an eager publishing go-getter at the start, evolving into a more polish and clever and into a devious schemer up to finessing a veteran manipulator. He unfolds layer by layer, much like the booty he brought her from the States, withdrawing men's shirts, a pair of loafers, Campbell's soups, a treat of foie gras and Skippy peanut butter. She accepts it all but complains, "I asked for English peanut butter." But she is thrilled when, playfully, he presents a final item, just what she was waiting for, a black-handled, obviously lethal, steel mirror polished Bob Dozier fighter knife. Highsmith is impressed. She now respects Ridgeway and what he can accomplish. Petzold's unveiling of Ridgeway is further emphasized with his changes of dress over the next two day. Subtle costume design by Charlotte Palmer-Lane reveal his growing confidence right to the end, wearing a dapper shirt and cravat. Highsmith's resistance to signing the contract slowly wavers as she realizes she cannot finish the last chapter of her book, which would be the last Ripley book. Appreciating Ridgeway's abilities, she offers him a deal. She will sign if he joins her in constructing a final murder for the book. She shares her knowledge of weapons and poisons, he crafts plotlines and characters and together they reveal chilling motivations. The ending is sudden and surreal, an expression of love without passion and a windup with one special Bob Dozier fighter knife for a Ripley ending. While this ending could a bit more brewing to make it a scene to savor, Switzerland has enough jigsaw pieces to arrange a portrait of one author's expedition into the mind and soul of her most famous character. |
Search CurtainUp in the box below PRODUCTION NOTES Switzerland Book: Joanna Murray-Smith Director: Dan Foster Cast: Daniel Petzold and Peggy J. Scott Set Design: James Fenton Costume Design: Charkitte Oakner-Lane Lighting Design: Andrew Gmoser Composer and Sound Design: Garrett Hood Fight Director: Jared Kirby Props Master: Deb Gaouette Stage Manager: Helen Irene Muller Produced: Hudson Stage Company by Special Arrangement with Evan Sacks, Judson Cooper, and Jamie deRoy http://www.hudsonstage.com Running Time: One hour, 30 min. No intermission. Theatre: 59East59 Theaters, Theater B. 59 East 59 St. Tickets: Tickets $25 to $35. ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). 646-892-7999 Performances: Tues-Fri at 7:15pm, Sat at 2:15pm and 7:15pm, Sun at 2:15pm Preview: 2/7/19. Opens: 2/14/19. Closes: 3/3/19. Review by Elizabeth Ahlfors based on performance 02/10/19 REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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