Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley turns 70 this year. The novel that introduced literature’s most unnervingly charming chameleon, Tom Ripley, is reborn this autumn in a new stage adaptation by director Mark Leipacher and ensemble company The Faction, touring the UK for the first time before docking at Oxford Playhouse, 13–18th October 2025.
Ripley’s legend looms large. Since the book’s 1955 publication, it has inspired multiple screen versions, from Alain Delon’s Purple Noon and the Oscar-garlanded 1999 film starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, to Andrew Scott’s monochrome Netflix series in 2024, but the story began with a taut psychological thriller on the page, long before La Dolce Vita sheen gilded it.
The production
Leipacher adapts and directs for The Faction, an award-winning London ensemble known for lean, muscular re-tellings of classics and literary thrillers. His Ripley has toured in earlier incarnations; this new version launches a full national tour through autumn 2025–26.
Expect an emphasis on psychological cat-and-mouse over pastiche: reviews from the opening dates describe a brisk, cinematic staging, multi-roling (in multiple roles) and tight ensemble work that keep the audience inside Ripley’s quicksilver point of view.
The Talented Mr Ripley cast
The ten-strong company is led by Ed McVey (The Crown, Netflix) as Tom Ripley (McVey made his screen debut as the university-age Prince William in the final season), with Maisie Smith (EastEnders, Strictly live tour) as the suspicious Marge Sherwood and Bruce Herbelin-Earle (Free Rein, The Boys in the Boat) as gilded playboy Dickie Greenleaf. The tour marks Herbelin-Earle’s professional theatre debut.
The wider ensemble includes Christopher Bianchi, Cary Crankson, Leda, Jason Eddy, Lachlan McCall, Hollie Sullivan and Aldous Ciokajlo-Squire, multi-roling through Highsmith’s sun-drenched but morally shadowed 1950s Italy.
Why Ripley, now?
Highsmith’s novel is as much about class, envy and reinvention as it is about crime. Ripley is a drifter whose talents are largely social; mimicry, charm, an x-ray eye for weakness, before they tilt into imposture and murder. That uneasy blend of aspiration and amorality keeps tempting each generation to reinterpret him; 2025’s stage version arrives as prestige TV and film have rediscovered the character, and as audiences continue to debate how far people will go to become someone else.
Who’s behind the tour?
The production is presented by Jack Maple (an Oxfordshire-raised producer whose credits range from Show Boat to An Officer and a Gentleman) with Thomas Hopkins, and created by The Faction under Leipacher’s direction. Maple also produces the UK premiere of cult musical Ride the Cyclone at Southwark Playhouse later this year
Oxford dates & access
- Oxford Playhouse: 11–12 Beaumont St, OX1 2LW
- 12+ running at 2 hours with interval
- Mon 13th Oct–Sat 18th Oct: evenings; mats Thu & Sat.
- Captioned performance: Wed 15 Oct, 7.30pm.
- 14–25s £5 tickets available on selected performances.
- From £14; box office 01865 305305 or oxfordplayhouse.com.
Ripley at a glance: a short history
- 1955: Novel published; becomes the first of five “Ripliad” books.
- 1960: Purple Noon (Delon) reimagines the story on screen.
- 1999: The Talented Mr Ripley (Damon, Law, Paltrow) wins multiple Oscar nominations and cements Ripley’s modern myth.
- 2024: Ripley (Netflix; Andrew Scott) returns to Highsmith’s noir minimalism.
The Talented Mr Ripley UK Tour Dates
| Dates | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 16 – 20 Sep | Edinburgh | Festival Theatre |
| 22 – 27 Sep | Birmingham | The Rep |
| 6 – 11 Oct | Woking | New Victoria Theatre |
| 13 – 18 Oct | Oxford | Playhouse |
| 27 Oct – 1 Nov | Brighton | Theatre Royal |
| 3 – 8 Nov | Bristol | Old Vic |
| 10 – 15 Nov | Richmond | Richmond Theatre |
| 18 – 22 Nov | Salford | The Lowry |
