Play name
Switzerland
By Joanna Murray-Smith
Director and Contact Details
Jane Lobb
janelobb@hotmail.co.uk
Playing dates
17th-21st June There will be a matinee and evening performances on Saturday 20th June. Please note the performance on Sunday 21st June will commence at 18-45 (TBC)
Get-in and Strike
Get-in Sunday 14th June; Strike Monday 22nd June
Venue
Bromley Little Theatre ‘in the Bar’
Audition
Sunday 11th January 2026 at 4:30pm
About the play
1995, the Swiss Alps. Patricia Highsmith, the queen of the thriller, now ageing and ailing, hides away in her study, surrounded by her collection of books and antique weaponry, finding solace in her seclusion, her cats and her cigarettes.
A polished young man turns up, sent by her New York publisher to persuade her to write one final instalment of her best-selling series featuring the master manipulator, Tom Ripley.
But as day breaks over the mountains, it becomes clear that the charming stranger is set on a far more sinister mission.
Joanna Murray-Smith’s play Switzerland is a gripping psychological thriller, filled with razor-sharp dialogue. It was first performed at the Sydney Opera House in 2014. The play received its UK premiere at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath, in 2018, before transferring to the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End.
Time
1995
Location
Patricia Highsmith’s home in the Swiss Alps
Style and Genre
Psychological thriller
Characters
Patricia: (female) 60’s – 70’s. An older woman with distinct vestiges of beauty, ailing. Large role.
Edward: (male) 20’s – 30’s. Handsome, sexually ambiguous, a New Yorker. Large role.
Audition pieces
Page 11 from Patricia: “You’re late.” To Page 12 Patricia: “It came across as hostile apparently.”
Page 26 from Patricia: “Are your parents dead?” To page 28 Edward: “Not a very nice person, no.”
Page 47 from Patricia: “Do you think I care what a bunch of…” to page 49 Edward: “Ah … sure.”
Page 60 from Edward: “I waited for spring.” To page 60: It’s actually not that hard to kill.”