Theatre Royal Bath are on a roll: following the announcement that The Price will transfer to the West End, starring David Suchet and Brendan Coyle, it has now been announced that their psychological thriller Switzerland, starring Phyllis Logan as author Patricia Highsmith, will head to London’s Ambassadors Theatre.
Switzerland paints a portrait of one of the great 20th century thriller writers, Highsmith, and originally premiered in Australia in 2015 to critical and award-winning acclaim. It ran at Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio earlier this year.
Penned by Joanna Murray-Smith, the play is set in the height of the Alps in 1995. Renowned author Patricia Highsmith (Logan) hides away in her study, finding solace in her seclusion, her cast and cigarettes. But then comes along a polished young man, sent by her published in New York, who’d like her to pen one final instalment of her best-selling book series.
But behind the request lies a sinister motivation – and as day breaks over the mountains, the charming stranger’s true mission becomes clear.
Calum Finlay and Phyllis Logan in Switzerland at Theatre Royal Bath (Photo: Nobby Clark)
BAFTA Award-winner Logan is well-known for her role as Mrs Hughes in ITV’s Downton Abbey and as Lady Jane Felsham in Lovejoy. She will star opposite Calum Finlay as Edward Ridgeway; Finlay recently starred in the West End in Mary Stuart and Hamlet.
Directed by Lucy Bailey (Witness For The Prosecution), Switzerland promises to be a taut, tense, atmospheric delight. The show will play from Saturday 10 November 2018 until Saturday 5 January 2019.