Switzerland comes to Southbank

By Rhianna Busler

Southbank Theatre will see Joanna Murray-Smith’s Switzerland take to the stage on September 21 with the original cast of Sarah Peirse and Eamon Farren.

Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) brings you a play inspired by renowned master crime novelist Patricia Highsmith in what is an original thriller.

Following the story of a young man sent to convince Patricia to write a final book becomes confrontation and soon turns into a cat-and-a-mouse game – but who is cat and who is mouse?

Joanna Murray-Smith has achieved international success as an Australian playwright. Her work has been nominated for many awards including the Oliver Award for Best Comedy for The Female of the Species.

The Sunday Telegraph said the play was: “A gripping psychological thriller. It creeps up on you and then has you on the edge of your seat.”

New MTC associate director Sarah Goodes has garnered a reputation as a leading director of new Australian and international work, attracting critical acclaim and multiple award nominations for her productions including Disgraced, The Hanging, Switzerland, Battle of Waterloo, The Effect and Orlando.

Director Sarah Goodes said: “Joanna Murray- Smith’s Switzerland is a thrilling ride into the dark centre of one of the great writers of our time. A thriller at its heart, it is also a journey into a psychological space that explores transformation and the act of creativity.”

Patricia Highsmith created some of the greatest suspense novels in modern literature and she became best known for the Ripley series and its eponymous criminal hero - a seductive, amoral libertine who gets away with murder.

Another production, which also kicked off this month at the Southbank Theatre as part of the NEON NEXT festival, was Lilith: The Jungle Girl.

Set in Amsterdam, the play follows the capturing of Lilith - a young, wild girl and the complications that arise when she learns to tame her feral heart.

Having previously directed The Sovereign Wife at the Lawler at Southbank Theatre, director Declan Green said he was excited to be working in the space again.

“The Sovereign Wife was one of the biggest, wildest shows ever made and it’s really exciting to be coming back to the Lawler three years later, a little older and a little wiser, to make another mess,” he said.

“It was a crazy-amazing honour to be part of the first season of NEON and we’re delighted MTC has invited us to kick off its next incarnation.”

Tickets for Switzerland and Lilith: The Jungle Girl can be found online at www.mtc.com.au