Audition Notice

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SEASON 3 2023 – SWITZERLAND

by Joanna Murray-Smith

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CHARACTERS:

PATRICIA HIGHSMITH: Female, late 50s-early 70s

An older woman, distinct vestiges of once great beauty, gender neutral style, drinks, smokes, does not suffer fools gladly or at all.

She says what she thinks, relishes being confrontational and shocking.

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EDWARD RIDGEWAY: Male, looks mid to late 20s

Ordinarily handsome, initially awkward, neat in appearance, determined, changes as he gets more confident. Sexually ambiguous.

Actor will NEED to show range.

 

SYNOPSIS:

The sharper the wits, the higher the stakes.

Somewhere in the Swiss alps, a grande dame of best-selling crime literature lives with a somewhat sinister collection of guns and knives.

She finds solace in her seclusion, her cats, and cigarettes.

But when a young man, 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, arrives on her doorstep, will her love of fictional murders become a dangerous reality?

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SWITZERLAND is an original thriller, inspired by renowned master crime novelist Patricia Highsmith, written by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith (Fury, 2013)

Highsmith’s books are the source of many cinematic adaptations – The Two Faces of January, The Talented Mr Ripley, Strangers on a Train – but in SWITZERLAND the tables are turned, and it is Patricia Highsmith herself who is the central character.

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True to its genre, SWITZERLAND, kicks off with a knock at the door and spirals into a calculated contest of wits and words.

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AUDITION DATE:

Monday 3rd April 2023 by appointment only

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AUDITION TIME:

7pm

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VENUE:

Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre

39-41 Castella Street, Lilydale

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CONTACT:

Helen Ellis

email: ellisproductions@me.com

to book an audition and for any queries.

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SEASON DATE:

Thursday 29 June – Saturday 15 July 2023

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REHEARSAL START DATE:

On or around Sunday 21st May 2023

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