Susie Amy as Pat Newcombe and Genevieve Gaunt as Marilyn Monroe in the Marilyn Conspiracy. (c) NUX PhotographyTHE MARILYN CONSPIRACY directed by Guy Masterson (based on his play written with Vicki McKellar) attempts to separate truth from supposition and unpick verifiable details from a mountain of conflicting, anecdotal and circumstantial evidence… but ultimately simply settles for presenting Monroe’s death as a necessary, politically motivated, cover-up.
Conspiracy theories sprang up in the years following Monroe’s death not least because of her known intimacy with both President John F Kennedy and his brother US Attorney General Bobby Kennedy. Details of her last few hours and the testimonies of people who were around her at the time (most notably her housekeeper, shrink, press agent and physician) served to feed the various theories that she was pregnant or had recently had an abortion and most significantly, kept a detailed personal diary, the contents of which if known, would have been explosive and likely to bring down the US administration at a time of global instability.
In setting out the timelines and introducing the key players, the production lands squarely in the Kennedy cover-up camp. The dirty work of convincing MM’s inner circle to stick to a convenient and plausible story, largely falls to Rat Pack member Peter Lawford — husband to Mrs Patricia Kennedy, sister to the President.
Played in the round with audience on all sides, the set conveys MM’s living room and benefits from a central revolve which slowly turns the players. The scenes are broken into those with MM (in playful party mode, and in a far gloomier mind-set as she telephones various individuals prior to her death) and those with her assembled close friends and confidantes who have to decide the best way to reveal her death to the world while minimising potential fall-out. Most of the usual Monroe associations are here, down to the Chanel No5 bottle next to the ivory telephone and the stuffed toy tiger (which in reality had belonged to the actress’ small white dog Moff who goes unmentioned in the play).
Unfortunately, irrespective of the cast’s depiction of fractious outbursts and tussles with individual conscience, the whole suffers from a rather staid and old fashioned atmosphere more redolent of an Agatha Christie murder mystery rather than anything touched by a Hollywood screen goddess haplessly chewed-up and spat-out by the 20th century’s most famous and all-powerful American political dynasty.
Doing their best to keep things lively, are: Genevieve Gaunt (Marilyn Monroe), Declan Bennett (Peter Lawford), Susie Amy (Pat Newcomb), Sally Mortemore (Mrs Eunice Murray), David Calvitto (Dr Ralph Greenson), Angela Bull (Mrs Hildi Greenson), Maurey Richards (Dr Hyman Engelberg) and Natasha Colenso (Mrs Patricia Kennedy-Lawford).
