Powerful new play wherein lies are untangled and disturbing new evidence is disclosed
Based on years of meticulous research, actress and writer Vicki McKellar and Olivier Award-winning director Guy Masterson’s thriller reconstructs the last four days and immediate aftermath of the death of Marilyn Monroe. In the official version of events, she was found nude in her bed holding a telephone, but before the police were called, her doctor, psychiatrist, publicist, housekeeper, and some close friends gathered to decide how to break the news. But what led to this tragic event? A tangled web of misinformation and lies unfold and the facts and myths of the case are exposed to reveal what really happened that fateful night and why.
On Wednesday August 1st 1962, seven people gathered at Marilyn Monroe’s home to celebrate her new $1m two-picture deal with 20th Century Fox. At 04:30 the following Sunday 5 August, her "sudden and unexplained death" was called in to the police and was reported as a drugs overdose. But she was found unconscious by her housekeeper the night before at 22:35 and subsequently died at 23:40, all after a late visit from a very important guest… when the same seven people regathered in her home on Saturday night in the five hours before calling the police, they had to decide on the version of the truth that would pervade for years after.
The cast consists of Susie Amy as Pat Newcomb (Footballers Wives, Hotel Babylon), Sally Mortemore as Eunice Murray (Game of Thrones, Doctors), Angela Bull as Hildi Greenson (Coronation Street) and co-writer of the show, Vicky McKellar as Patricia Kennedy-Lawford. Declan Bennett as Peter Lawford, David Calvitto as Dr Ralph Greenson (12 Angry Men, Garrick Theatre and UK tour) and Genevieve Gaunt as Marilyn Monroe.
Guy Masterson said ‘’When you go deeper, there were so many forces at play, it's just too easy to take the official version of Marilyn's death as gospel. We may never know the full truth, but this 'whodunnit' lays it all out for the audience to make their own judgment. It's likely that the alternative storyline - the probable truth - could not bear thinking about. It was that big. But when you put it into context, it becomes a tragedy."
The Marilyn Conspiracy: 19 June – 27 July
Venue: Park200, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP
Tickets: The Marilyn Conspiracy