Did someone murder Marilyn Monroe?
Was there more people involved in the murder of John F. Kennedy?
These are the questions that come up in the new show titled ‘Speculations’ at Marylebone Theatre. And yes, it’s all speculative because these deaths were being investigated by Dorothy Kilgallen (Janie Dee) before her suspicious death. Kilgallen was a real life journalist (and skeptic), and television pundit, who died in 1965, two years after the assassination of JFK. Her theory that Monroe was murdered and did not commit suicide is played out in scenes with Monroe (Natalie Dunne) and Robert Kennedy (Jolyon Coy) while her JFK murder theory that he was killed in a plot by gangsters is played out with in scenes with Lee Harvey Oswald (Joseph Potter) and gangster Carlos Marcello). The main plot of this show shows Dorothy and a hired babysitter Flo (Gloria Obianyo) theorize and discuss all of this in Dorothy’s living room.
Five of the characters in this play are real people, and the play draws upon real historical events and the areas of investigation Kilgallen was pursuing at the time of her death. The play is, however, a work of fiction. Kilgallen was not a speculator, she was an investigative journalist who spent years gathering evidence and reached her own conclusions about the deaths of Monroe and JFK. This play dramatises the world suggested by those investigations. This play speculates about encounters and conversations that might have taken place.
‘Speculations’ was written by Torben Betts and directed by Trevor Nunn. In real life Dorothy took an interest in the trial of Jack Ruby (he murdered Lee Harvey Oswald) and actually secured an interview with him, and was perhaps asking too many questions with the wrong sort of people. And the cause of her death remains undetermined (she was found dead in her Manhattan townhouse). However all this intrigue and drama doesn’t make for a great show. It’s slow moving (and perhaps 20 minutes too long), and the audience is expected to pretend to believe that this show is all factual but disappointingly it’s not. And while all the cast are fine doing their jobs, it’s all boils down to a line Dorothy says in the second half – “I want to live. I want to go to the theatre and complain about the second act”! A line like that made the opening night crowd laugh – it’s a line that should be cut out!
The visual design of the show is fantastic. From Kilgallen’s beautifully appointed living room to a bar where Oswald and Marcello meet up, to Monroes bedroom where she and Robert Kennedy liaise – all beautifully done.
If you do go see this show, buy the programme as it gives you great insight into this show and the true historical facts leading up to the deaths of Monroe and Kennedy and Kilgallen’s life.