Hudson Stage Production Looks at the Latter Years of Fascinating Author
When veteran actor Peggy Scott looks for theater roles, she enjoys being challenged and taking on projects that terrify her.
Scott’s appearance in the upcoming Hudson Stage production of “Switzerland” at Armonk’s Whippoorwill Hall, which begins Friday evening for the first of nine performances over three weekends, gives her everything she can ask for.
Scott portrays the mercurial crime author Patricia Highsmith, the writer of the highly successful “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Strangers on a Train,” in the two-character play. It takes place during the latter stages of Highsmith’s life, roughly the last decade before her death in 1995 at 74 years old, long after she had left the United States and had gone to England and France before spending her final years in Switzerland.
In the fictionalized play, written by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith, she receives a visit from Edward (Daniel Petzold), a representative from her New York-based publishing company who has traveled to Europe to try and convince her to write one last novel. The play unfolds into a psychological thriller.
Despite her success, Highsmith, who authored 22 novels, had a difficult time dealing with other people.
“So, she is a very misanthropic, dark, twisted soul, a very damaged soul,” Scott explained. “She had had a mother who famously bragged to her daughter that she had tried to abort her, her actual father, her biological father, had left her mother about 10 days before Patricia was born. Her mother remarried and Patricia hated her stepfather, and I’m sure it was partly because of her parents, maybe it was her genetic lot in life, but she really struggled in her life.”
It didn’t help that as a woman writer and someone who was gay she received little critical acclaim in the United States, even mocked. That forced her to leave for Europe, first to England and then France, where she received some of the recognition that she craved. Highsmith earned France’s Order of Arts and Letters, one of the country’s highest honors for artists, Scott said.
However, Highsmith’s life was often in turmoil. She had numerous lovers but seemed to be drawn to women like her mother, who treated her cruelly.
Against that backdrop, Scott, is looking forward to playing Highsmith, who is such an unusual character to play.
Despite Highsmith’s difficulties and eccentricities, Scott said she admires that the author was “unrelentingly” who she was.
“To write what she did, it takes a great deal of courage to persist in our chosen careers,” Scott said. “The world doesn’t need another writer, another actor. She stuck with it.”
This is the second time Scott is performing for Hudson Stage. In 2015, she appeared in the theater company’s production of “Other Desert Cities.” Scott has a long list of credits on both Broadway and Off-Broadway and on television. She’ll soon be seen in the recurring role of Jeanne on HBO’s upcoming series
“Succession.”
“I liked it a lot,” Scott said of her role in “Other Desert Cities.” “I like Dan (Foster) the director and I just think they’re terrific. It’s a small company but they really, really do a first-class job at choosing interesting plays and they have a very dedicated audience.”
All nine performances of “Switzerland” will take place at Whippoorwill Hall, located at 19 Whippoorwill Rd. East in Armonk. Performances on Apr. 20, 21, 27 and 28 and May 4 and 5 are at 8 p.m. while there are matinees beginning at 3 p.m. on Apr. 22 and 29 and May 5. Tickets are $40; $35 for seniors and students. Student may buy tickets on the day of the performance a half-hour before show time for $15.
For tickets and more information, visit www.hudsonstage.com or call 914-271-2811.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
