Cast Set For Park Theatre's THE MARILYN CONSPIRACY

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. The first version of The Marilyn Conspiracy, which focused on the conspiracy elements of the story, was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018 and this updated version, which adds more around the build-up to Monroe's death, is making its world premiere in London.

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 is made up of a number of actors reprising their roles from 2018 as well as new additions. Returning to the show in the roles they played in 2018 are 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. New for the London run are Declan Bennett as Peter Lawford, (Moulin Rogue, Hirschfield Broadway New York), David Calvitto as Dr Ralph Greenson (12 Angry Men, Garrick Theatre and UK tour) and Genevieve Gaunt as Marilyn Monroe, who returns to Park Theatre following Ghosts of the Titanic. Genevieve has played Marilyn Monroe twice before in readings of The Dame and the Showgirl at The Criterion with Dame Harriet Walter and House of the Wicked at The National Theatre. 

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."

Guy Masterson is the Olivier Award-winning producer/director of Morecambe (2009) and, more recently the critically acclaimed Olivier nominated West End and Broadway hit The Shark is Broken. He began directing in 1991 with Playing Burton, a solo play about his superstar uncle, Richard Burton. Over 29 consecutive seasons at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 1994, Masterson then presented over 150 shows, directing over 50, including 12 Angry Men (2003) and The Odd Couple (2005) both starring Bill Bailey. He originated One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest starring Mackenzie Crook and Christian Slater in 2004, and directed The Shark Is Broken in 2019. He returns to Park Theatre following Bill Clinton Hercules and Absolution in 2016 and 9 Circles in 2022.

Vicki McKellar studied drama at Italia Conti Stage School for the Performing Arts and The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York. After starting out singing in bands, she played in Our Friends In The North and Bugs 4. She appeared on stage in both London and New York in Three Sisters, Time And The Conways and Love's Labours Lost. In 2004, she played the Brothel Madam in Channel 4's Queer As 18th Century Folk. She also appeared in I Know You Know (starring Robbie Carlyle). In 2009, she wrote and produced a short film (TITLE) for her own indie film company, Tapestry Film Productions. In 2010, she wrote and produced her first play Paradise Lost, at Leicester Square Theatre (starring Abi Titmuss). Vicki began writing Marilyn: Her Final Days in 2014, and, in 2017, teamed up with Guy Masterson to create The Marilyn Conspiracy and produce the premiere at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe - Assembly Festival, to strong acclaim. She is thrilled that the Marilyn will finally open in London after being delayed by Covid 19. 2024 will also see Vicki mounting another of her plays, Love Or Something Like It in London (Venue/Dates TBC). Vicki is currently writing a sitcom, Aquarius Rising with her brother, Peter Halloran.

Park Theatre presents exceptional theatre in the heart of Finsbury Park, boasting two world-class performance spaces: Park200 for predominantly larger scale productions by established talent, and Park90, a flexible studio space, for emerging artists. In eleven years, it has enjoyed eight West End transfers (including Rose starring Maureen Lipman, The Boys in the Band starring Mark Gatiss, Pressure starring David Haig and The Life I Lead starring Miles Jupp), two National Theatre transfers, 14 national tours, seven Olivier Award nominations, has won multiple OffWestEnd Offie Awards and won a Theatre of the Year award from The Stage.

 

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