Review: The Talented Mr Ripley; chilling, lean and relentless at Oxford Playhouse

Patricia Highsmith’s most elegant monster stalks the Oxford Playhouse this week in a taut new stage adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley by Mark Leipacher, running until Saturday 18th October. Here’s our review after we saw the opening night of the 25/26 UK Tour.

“I never wanted to murder anyone. It was necessary.”

The story (spoiler free)

1950s New York. Tom Ripley is clever, broke and drifting. A chance meeting lands him a deal from a shipbuilding magnate: go to Italy and persuade his wayward son Dickie Greenleaf to come home.

On the Ligurian coast Tom is swept up by Dickie’s easy charm and moneyed freedom. He becomes friend, errand-runner, then something closer; copying Dickie’s clothes, voice and habits as admiration blurs into envy. Marge Sherwood, Dickie’s partner and the most clear-eyed person in the room, senses the shift.

A single, shocking act tips the story from infatuation into survival. From then on it’s a game of nerve. Tom improvises and deceives (banks, hotels, the police, a private detective) spinning lies fast enough to stay ahead of questions that keep coming back.

The tension isn’t “whodunnit”. We know. It’s how long Tom can keep the performance going, and what living inside a lie does to a person. Class, identity and entitlement rub raw: is Tom a victim of the world he longs to enter, or a predator who discovers he’s good at being bad?

Performances

Ed McVey is magnetic as Ripley: crisp, controlled, and always a beat ahead of everyone on stage. His line-load is formidable and every cue lands.

Bruce Herbelin-Earle gives Dickie the careless charm that makes Ripley’s obsession plausible

Maisie Smith resists caricature; she plays Marge Sherwood sharp-eyed, practical, and increasingly suspicious. Her character is refreshingly grounded, smart, sceptical, and far more than a plot device.

The supporting roles; Mr Greenleaf, the investigators, and assorted acquaintances, close in as the net tightens. Each near-miss has the audience holding its breath.

Staging & tone

Leipacher’s production is stripped back: a dark platform, hand-moved props and precise lighting do the location work. It’s fleet and cinematic without clutter. A clever device keeps Ripley’s conscience alive: the “dead” Dickie (and Freddie) return to talk to him, needling his certainty. Flashbacks to Ripley’s brutal aunt hint at why he believes survival requires reinvention.

Pace is brisk. Scene changes are near-instant, and the score underlines the dread without announcing it. If the minimalism occasionally compresses geography, it also lets the psychology breathe.

There is more information in our Talented Mr Ripley preview article.

What lands best

• McVey’s control: a polite smile that hardens by degrees.
• The cat-and-mouse with Marge is quiet, tense, credible.
• The choice to let the dead talk back; it externalises guilt without melodrama.

Verdict

The Talented Mr Ripley is a fast-paced, intense and chilling evening, carried by a central performance that never loosens its grip. The audience response on opening night was rapturous, and rightly so. Highsmith’s cool moral ambiguity survives intact: are we watching a victim of class envy, or a predator who learns how to flourish? The production refuses to decide for us.

Essential info

• Venue: Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2LW
• Dates: Until Sat 18 Oct
• Duration: 2 hours with Interval
• Age: 12+
• Tickets from: £14
• Box office: 01865 305305 | www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Credits

• Tom Ripley: Ed McVey • Dickie Greenleaf: Bruce Herbelin-Earle • Marge Sherwood: Maisie Smith
• Adaptor/Director: Mark Leipacher
• Production images: Ed McVey as Tom Ripley — photo: Mark Senior

Highsmith’s novel has inspired the Oscar-nominated 1999 film of the same name (Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow) and Netflix’s 2024 adaptation (Andrew Scott). This stage version marks the 70th anniversary of the book’s publication.

Full Talented Mr Ripley UK Tour Dates 25/26