THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY - UK TOUR - REVIEW ****

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the regional press night for the UK touring production of The Talented Mr. Ripley, ahead of its West End transfer in November at the Richmond Theatre. A huge thank you goes to Sam and the team at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking for having me!

I will begin this review by saying — I haven’t seen any of the screen adaptations of this story, nor read the novel. So this will be less of a comparison and more about what makes this play enjoyable regardless.

We follow Mr. Ripley who, through deceit and lies, takes us on a wild adventure from America right through Europe.

Although I would recommend watching the previous material before coming to see this play, I will say it is a complex story — beautifully adapted and directed by Mark Leipacher. I think Leipacher has done a fantastic job on this. The book captures the unbelievable and shocking story ever so well, and from what I heard, it is extremely true to the novel. Leipacher’s direction is magnificent. The way the performers used the stage and set to create moments of varying tension levels was very impressive.

Ed McVey makes a major star turn in the role of Mr. Ripley — talented would be an understatement. Every single moment of the show happened with McVey on stage, as far as I can recall, and this is a huge stamina test, as well as the very difficult task of narrating the show. He brought an intriguing quirkiness to the role and was very enticing to listen to — you simply could not take your eyes off him when he was performing. Having seen McVey in The Crown, it was great to see him on stage and playing such a high-energy and unstable character.

In the role of Ripley’s friend, Dickie Greenleaf, is Bruce Herbelin-Earle. I enjoyed Herbelin-Earle’s cold stubbornness to begin with, which then warmed to Tom and became a really fun character to watch. Bruce Herbelin-Earle takes all challenges within his stride and gives a truly outstanding performance.

A final standout for me was Maisie Smith as Maggie Sherwood. Thanks to Smith’s wonderful performance, you were able to see the pain and hardship that Maggie goes through within the story — deeper than just on the surface. You could see her performing it from the inside out. Her screen work on EastEnders has clearly aided her ability to really live through a story, and you can evidently see her doing just that on the tour of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

The entire cast as a whole worked as one. Their movement was aesthetic, well executed, and overall pleasing to watch — they created impressive theatre both as individuals and as a group. With Holly Pigott’s design as their playground, the performers were given a simplistic yet effective set to ground themselves in the story. There were aspects of this that I really liked and haven’t seen used in much theatre recently, including a hole in the middle of a raised platform which had multiple uses and created unique ways for entrances and exits, particularly within Act Two.

Overall, this show is epic. The storyline, though a slow starter, becomes more understandable — I am not sure you would even have this issue if you had read or watched the material before attending the show. It is full of lies, deception, and schemes, and some moments get very intense. The casting, particularly Ed McVey, is worth the visit for a masterclass in acting. He plays the narrator extremely well, and you see his slow descent into madness as the story progresses. The set, lighting, and book all work together to portray a brilliant, gripping piece of theatre.

See it now on tour across the UK over the next year, including the upcoming Richmond Theatre, West End run — tickets available here.

If you see it, feel free to let me know what you think!

Tuesday 7th October 2025 

Robbie Davies | Robbie’s Backstage Bants