Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Dickie Greenleaf (left) and Ed McVey as Tom Ripley.

Pictures: Mark Senior

The Talented Mr Ripley

Birmingham Rep

****

What a wonderful piece of theatre this is; acting, set, sound and lighting all working together brilliantly to create magic.

The cast are simply brilliant bringing a complex, psychological thriller to stunning life, led by Ed McVey who is a revelation in the eponymous role. It is a huge part which must rival Hamlet and Lear in its line count – and, incidentally, what a Hamlet he would make.

But back to Thomas Ripley. We first meet him as the small-time con man hustling a just get by living in 1950's New York, not quite on the right side of legal, wary of repercussions and nervous about attracting the interest of police.

Small time becomes big time when kismet plays its hand and he is approached by shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf, ably played by Chistopher Bianchi, on the recommendation of high society friends, with a request to persuade his son, Dickie who he was told was great friends with Ripley, to return home from Italy.

Ripley could have said sorry, we hardly knew each other, hardly met, and it was a long time ago, so I can't really help you . . .he hardly knew Greenleaf's wealthy friends who had recommended him for heaven's sake . . . but great wealth, and the real promise of tapping into it, was like a magnet, so, instead of honesty, hardly a trait Ripley would recognise, he just turns on the charm, flattery and the easy, inventive and shameless lies that are his stock in trade, and heads for Italy, pockets bulging with Greenleaf's traveller's Cheques for expenses.

It is a rule of thumb that if you tell one lie than another usually becomes necessary to cover it up, then another, and another and . . . soon even the truth is a lie as we follow Ripley as he heads to the seaside idyllic village where Dickie and his girlfriend Madge and enjoying life.

Maisie Smith as Madge who never really takes to Ripley

Bruce Herbelin-Earle is a superbly languorous Dickie, tall, dark, handsome  and with that slightly arrogant and privileged air of the wealthy. His family and trust fund mean that he doesn’t need to work, or indeed worry, and can spend endless, lazy days, pleasant evenings, and, incidentally, indulge his passion as a (not very good) painter.

Maisie Smith as girlfriend Madge is a foil to Dickie. She loves him but you suspect Dickie's love does not extend much beyond himself and his hedonistic lifestyle. She is more down to earth and, spots that Ripley is not all he seems from the off. Maisie is perhaps a little underused as the third side of the central emotional triangle and worthy of far more than the script allows her to show.

Then there is Cary Crankson as Freddie, another high on the drug of wealth, he of the famous, or perhaps more infamous skiing parties that last for days,

And it is that unfettered, seemingly unrestricted wealth Ripley becomes attracted to, that do what you like, go where you like free pass to anything, anyone, anywhere you like. Ripley is addicted and has all the skills he needs to create his own life of luxury or in his case, take over one that is steady and ready made. What has happened to Dickie by the way?

Ripley has the looks . . . sort of . . . the charm, when required, the mimicry, the forgery, the confidence and . . . most important, to skill and cunning to invent on the fly, create lies to confirm lies that confirme. . . creating a labyrinth that Madge and, for a brief while, Freddie could suspect as much as they liked but never unravel and which leaves Insp Roverini, (Christopher Bianchi) of the Italian police chasing around circles of confusion. Bianchi is also Herbert Greenleaf.

The 1999 film had the advantage of filming wonderful Italy, Rome, Palermo, the bay of Naples, New York . . . Venice; the stage, no matter how plush the seats or bright the lights, can't compete, so director and Mark Leipacher, who also adapted Patricia Highsmith's novel for the stage, concentrates on the psychology rather than the scenery.

The keystone is the relationship between Ripley and Dickie. You suspect it started out with Ripley aiming to make the maximum amount he could out of the deal before Dickie either moved back to the US or Greenleaf stopped funding what had become a fool's errand, but wealth was addictive.

Ripley clinging to Dickie even trying on his clothes might be seen as homoerotic but Ripley didn't want Dickie . . . he wanted to be him, not so much identity theft as grand larceny - obsession can be a deadly affair.

Ripley in Dickie's clothes haunted by his demons

We see clashes between Ripley and Dickie, and Freddie, and Madge and the Police, we even have a private detective and Greenleaf involved as the story, theories, suspects and even victims change, which, if we are honest adds a layer of confusion as various dates and numerous locations where Ripley, or Dickie or Freddie were seen or stayed or headed from or to,  or wrote from or . . . let's just say it is easy to get lost in time and place despite the best efforts of the cast to keep us on track. No wonder the police are probably still chasing shadows,

Around them is an ensemble who provide both sceneshifters, characters such as wives, maids and friends as well as shadowy figures from press, police, accusers and Ripley's own personal demons.

With the action limited to the Rep stage Holly Pigott's set is a raised central platform with a cut out square, like a giant, square polo mint with hidden entrances at the rear so characters can pop up in or vanish out from the central hole.

Doors, a refrigerator, frames, even a two part old master are silently wheeled on or off to give interest on a minimalist stage while Zeynep KepekI's lighting design is a masterclass in using lighting almost as scenery. The centre platform changes colour uniformly, banks of light tubes on industrial metal frames lining the stage change to French flag colours for a mention of Paris, or subtly change colour for match moods.

At one point a rear spot casts long shadows of Ripley and Dickie to unnerve the audience and a clever rolling wave light gives the appearance the raised platform is not just floating but moving, again engaging the senses beyond what is being said, with set and lighting augmented by Max Pappenheim spot on sound.

The technical aspects of theatre are often the Cinderellas of a production, only noticed when they go wrong, but this production shows just how much they can lift and enhance what is on stage to help create something special.

It is fair to say Mr Ripley is quite remarkable, he never wanted to murder anyone, it just became . . . well . . . necessary. You can find out why at the Rep to 27-09-25.

Roger Clarke

23-09-25

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