What Happens When Charm Curdles into Menace?

That’s the delicious question at the heart of The Talented Mr Ripley, and one that The Faction’s inventive new production toys with in all sorts of slippery, stylish ways.

I caught the show in Brighton with a friend, and while it took a moment to find its stride, once it did, it was a thrilling, unsettling ride.  The doubling of Ripley in Act 2 - two actors moving in uncanny unison, their bodies and voices reflecting back off each other - was an inspired stroke. The choreography had that sinuous, almost reptilian quality that Ripley himself embodies: beautiful, controlled, and dangerous.  Hats off to Sarita Piotrowski and Haruka Kuroda.

Visually, the production is a thrill.  The square, raised stage with its ominous central void becomes both playground and abyss, a minimalist design that somehow manages to suggest everything from an Italian terrace, a beach, a bar, all leading to a moral pit.  It’s one of those sets that the audience sit with before the action begins, it seems to breathe with the action, alive with shadows and suggestion.

Then there are the meta touches (and you know me, I love a bit of meta).  The fourth wall isn’t just cracked; it’s gleefully smashed by Ripley (Ed Mcvey doing a wonderful job).  The film retakes, the sly nods to cinematic adaptation, the self-aware dialogue that winks at its own artifice, all of it adds an extra layer of commentary on performance, identity, and the very act of imitation.  After all, what is Ripley if not a man playing himself as others in endless retakes, trying to get the role right this time?

That said, a trim wouldn’t hurt.  There are moments where it all feels a touch baggy, as if Style has wandered into Substance’s dressing room and refused to give the red shirt back.  But even in its slower stretches, it’s hard not to be seduced by the sheer cleverness of the thing - the boldness of its staging, the precision of its movement, the way it invites you to question what you’re seeing and who’s really in control.  And if we are talking trims once I had thought the wonderful ensemble PIs looked like versions of Inspector Gadget I couldn’t unthink it.

The book delves into the darkness of a fractured childhood, of a sexuality that is hidden, questions of control and manipulation that got buried a little in this production.  But, ultimately, The Faction’s Ripley captures what makes Patricia Highsmith’s story so enduring: that queasy tension between fascination and fear.  Ripley isn’t simply evil - he’s intoxicating.  And this production leans into that contradiction, turning the stage into a hall of mirrors where identity is always up for grabs.

The Faction’s The Talented Mr Ripley is currently in Brighton and touring across the UK in the coming weeks.  It’s definitely worth an evening of your time - slick, unsettling, and fiendishly clever theatre that lingers long after the lights go up.  I’ll be keeping an eye on whatever this company does next.