The Talented Mr Ripley (Sydney Theatre Co) ★★★★

Written by Patricia Highsmith. Adapted for the stage by Joanna Murray-Smith. Sydney Theatre Co. Roslyn Packer Theatre. 19 Aug – 28 Sep, 2025.

Be gay, do crimes. Patricia Highsmith’s delectable, social-climbing sociopath Tom Ripley hits the stage in a heady mix of envy, murder, and clothes-swapping — these guys barely have time to put a shirt on before they’re taking it back off again.

Tom Ripley (Will McDonald), an awkward young man scheming and scamming his way through life, is recruited by the unwitting Greenleaf family to find their wayward son, the rich, handsome Richard “Dickie” Greenleaf (Raj Labade), and bring him back to America. When Tom finds Dickie drifting through life in Italy, he is invited into this world of luxury and ease, and Tom finds himself seduced in more ways than one. But when Dickie starts to freeze him out again, the chameleonic grifter decides to replace the spoiled rich kid and live the life he’d only ever dreamed of.

There is a distinct youthfulness to this production of Ripley that feels less connected to the well-known screen adaptations (apologies to both Matt Damon and Andrew Scott — neither exactly screamed “mid-twenties” in the role), and more in tune with Alain Delon’s 1960 film version Plein Soleil, or the obviously Ripley-inspired Saltburn. All the lead characters are callow twenty-somethings, consumed by their own sense of self – a brash carelessness that works against them.

Will McDonald delivers a seductively lithe lead performance. This Tom Ripley is always watching, observing, mimicking behaviour to hide in plain sight — as a young gay man in the 1950s, it’s his survival mechanism. This is a study in carefully concealed queerness — a yearning that is suppressed but reveals itself in other ways. As an outsider to mainstream society, he doesn’t feel bound by the rules and morals of others. There’s a sadness, mixed with envy, in Ripley’s outlook that curdles into violent resentment when Greenleaf rejects him.

Raj Labade’s Dickie is a complete contrast. He is relaxed and entitled, bored of his own privileges and desperately seeking novelty. Both men are indifferent to the people around them, using others purely as tools. As an onstage duo, there’s a crackling energy between McDonald and Labade — the homoerotic thrill of a gay man and a flirty straight man that can never be consummated.

Murray-Smith’s script races through the twists of the novel at a brisk pace. Large sections are narrated by Ripley, giving us quick insights into his thoughts and emotions. It’s expedient, but not always dynamic. However, it does allow for moments of sly comedy, as the audience is privy to Ripley’s uncensored reactions that other characters never see. Once we step outside the core duo, the characters start to feel a little weaker — both Marge (Claude Scott-Mitchell) and Freddie (Faisal Hamza) are less well drawn, often resulting in one-note scenes of vague suspicion.

There’s a distinct visual design to Goodes’ production that strikes a bold note. When it works, it excels — such as in the moment Greenleaf and Ripley go dancing, or during the fateful boating scene — but often the imposing, stark concrete wall dominating the set sits heavily across scenes. Its ever-present threat may be brutalist chic, but for me, it flattened the tone — an expanse of mid-century modernist grey that drained the dynamism and passion from the Italian getaway.

When Sydney Theatre Company announced this show last year, my first reaction was a bemused “huh”. As much as I love the book, the multiple film versions, the Netflix miniseries, and Murray-Smith’s previous examination of Highsmith in Switzerland, I couldn’t immediately see the need for a stage adaptation right now. What could this story say to Sydney in 2025?

The answer, it turns out, is… not much. I thought we might be in for some commentary on the technologically induced lack of empathy among young people, or a connection to modern con artists like Anna Sorokin/Anna Delvey. But nope — this is just an entertaining adventure. This is comfort-crime on stage, like watching one of the recent Agatha Christie’s, perfect for the last weeks of winter.

The result is a slick piece of theatre that orbits a magnetic lead performance from Will McDonald. My over-familiarity with the source material may have dulled the plot’s thrills, but the performances kept me completely engaged from beginning to end.