Switzerland

🎭 by Joanna Murray-Smith

🎬 Directed by: Vladimir Lyutskanov

👥 Cast: Stanka Kalcheva, Boyan Arsov

🏛️ A production of Theatre 199 “Valentin Stoychev”

🏆 Awards

• Stanka Kalcheva – 2026 Icarus Award nomination for Best Actress.
• Boyan Arsov – 2025 Askeer Award nomination for Best Actor.

Patricia Highsmith’s novels are the kind people say you read in one sitting once you open them. They are also said to be addictive. Among her admirers was none other than the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, who made the cinematic masterpiece Strangers on a Train based on her novel of the same name. The Talented Mr. Ripley is another of Highsmith’s hit titles that became a cult film. She is undoubtedly one of the most psychologically perceptive authors in the world of crime fiction. Though horrified by her stories, we find the criminal’s path irresistible as she leads us along it.

The production introduces you to Patricia Highsmith at a time when she is already living as a recluse in Switzerland and has no intention of publishing any more novels. An enigmatic young editor arrives at her home, sent by her publishers to persuade her to write one more story about the charismatic criminal Tom Ripley. What follows is unexpected, chilling, and astonishing... But we cannot reveal any more here. You must see the production—and you will certainly be captivated by the world of the talented, eccentric, and utterly magnetic Miss Patricia Highsmith.

✨ This play is being staged in Bulgaria for the first time.