Much like the ‘grassy knoll’ that’s associated with JFK, all the ‘facts’ that surround Marilyn Monroe’s final hours on Earth are a neverending source of interest and perplexion. Written by Vicky McKellar and Guy Masterson, The Marilyn Conspiracy examines what was officially announced at the wake of Monroe’s death by the group of acquaintances and friends who were present in the immediate hours before and after her passing.

While the ‘aftermath’ is covered at great length, we’re also privy to scenes with Monroe prior to this that involve the aforementioned ‘party guests’. They include Genevieve Gaunt as Marilyn Monroe; Sally Mortemore as Mrs Eunice Murray, Monroe’s housekeeper; David Calvitto as Dr Ralph Greenson, Monroe’s psychiatrist; Angela Bull as Mrs Hildi Greenson, the wife of Monroe’s psychiatrist; Susie Amy as Pat Newcomb, Monroe’s best friend and publicist; Maurey Richards as Hyman Engelberg, Monroe’s doctor; Declan Bennett as Peter Lawford, actor and the last person to speak to Monroe, plus Natasha Colenso as Mrs Patricia Kennedy-Lawford – wife of Peter, but more importantly sister of John F Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy…

Tonally, some of the early scenes feel like a whodunnnit, but as we see how the dramatis personae ‘know’ Munroe, I did wonder if there would be an unveiling of personal connections such as in An Inspector Calls. By the time the play hits its stride, however, I had no doubt as to the nature of the play – a reversal of 12 Angry Men, where instead of one good man ‘wearing down’ biased opinions through logic and empathy, we have one person using ‘rationality’ to encourage others to forget their better angels and sell their souls…

Months earlier, Lawford was ostracised by Frank Sinatra for not speaking on his behalf to the Kennedys, who at the last minute refused to stay at Sinatra’s Palm Spring abode, because of his publicised link to the Mafia. At the time we meet Lawford in the play, he is very much in the counsel of the Kennedys and acts as their liasion regarding a candid diary in Monroe’s custody… While not an important person per se, Lawford’s connections make him a pivotal figure in the play and the U.S. at that time. None of this backstory is mentioned in the play, but one senses just from his actions in the play that he has an agenda.

While Engelberg and Greenson use scientific know-how to rebuff what couldn’t be stated in a cover story, they eventually acquiesce to Lawford’s request for ‘facts’, after a fashion. The women in the play, however, echo Monroe’s own sentiment of letting ‘the truth out’ and damn the consequences. The larger picture in the play, however, involving ‘national security’ becomes the ‘get out of jail card’ for the powers-that-be, echoing Samuel Johnson’s statment that: “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” In any case, the audience is left to ponder on where the ‘greater good’ truly lies.

Had this play been performed say 40+ years ago, it would have hit differently. However, what with political scandals on both sides of the Pond in recent years, the justification of silence to ‘safe face’ smacks of cowardice and would face little tolerance nowadays. Also, knowing what would later happen in 1963 and 1968, the worst fears expounded by Lawford came to pass anyway and were perhaps karmic in nature.

Like most people, I knew the gist of Monroe’s alleged final hours before watching the play. I was also aware of the conspiracy theories espoused at that time. This play gets under the skin of all these rumours and makes you care about the oppression of truth and the disregard for individuals.

If Munroe had a ‘fault’, it was her lack of comprehension of what ‘frightened’, powerful people would do to protect themselves and how vulnerable she truly was…

© Michael Davis 2024

The Marilyn Conspiracy runs at the Park Theatre until 27th July.