Switzerland (NHB Modern Plays)

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. 'A riveting psychological two-hander weaved with a compelling black humour' - The Stage 'A smartly self-referential salute to Patricia Highsmith's riveting crime tales' - Guardian 'A gripping psychological thriller. Creeps up on you and then has you on the edge of your seat' - Sunday Telegraph 'Joanna Murray-Smith demonstrates a Stoppardian gift for pithily combining intelligence, wit and pathos' - Independent

Joanna Murray-Smith's plays have been produced in many languages, all over the world, including on the West End, Broadway and at the Royal National Theatre. Her plays include American Song, Pennsylvania Avenue, Fury, Songs for Nobodies, True Minds, Day One - A Hotel - Evening, The Gift, Rockabye, The Female of the Species, Ninety, Bombshells, Rapture, Nightfall, Redemption, Flame, Love Child, Atlanta, Honour and Angry Young Penguins. She has also adapted Hedda Gabler, as well as Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage, for Sir Trevor Nunn (London). Her three novels (published by Penguin/Viking) are Truce, Judgement Rock and Sunnyside. Her opera libretti include Love in the Age of Therapy and The Divorce. Joanna has also written many screenplays.