Marilyn

Photo: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

Holding a mirror up to the notion of stardom, the myth of the blonde bombshell and the pressure of fame, Marilyn offers a glimpse into the private life of one of popular culture’s most iconic women. Read more …

During the summer of 1960, Marilyn Monroe and French actress Simone Signoret live in adjacent apartments of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Thrown together while Monroe films the movie Let’s Make Love with Signoret’s husband Yves Montand, the pair form an uneasy friendship, plagued by jealousy and insecurity. Under the watchful eye of Patti, hairdresser to the stars, it will become a relationship that will test their deepest beliefs and threaten to destroy them both.

This new play by Sue Glover, best known for the Scottish classic Bondagers, is an intimate portrait of the life of one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic film stars.

The critical consensus

Frances Thorburn gives a thousand-watt performance...[the play] certainly raises interesting questions about perception and reality in an age of Twitter feeds and paparazzi in which “glamour” has a tawdry new meaning.

Shona Craven, Onstage Scotland, 23/02/2011

While it rarely goes beyond the expected, Thorburn and Hollier manage to avoid mere impersonation but capture the essence of the two stars. They are ably supported by Pauline Knowles as Marilyn’s earthy hairdresser, in this genuinely tragic tale.

Gareth Vile, The Stage, 24/02/2011

Sue Glover's new bio-play Marilyn has a sparkling lead but a lacklustre script.

(*) (*) Mark Brown, The Telegraph, 24/02/2011

A fascinating and touching theatrical spectacle.

(*) Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman, 25/02/2011

Overall it’s a witty take on celebrity and feminism in the 1960s that still resonates in the present day.

(*) Lauren Mayberry, The List, 24/02/2011

There is much to admire...but the balance of both play and performance is not all it might be.

Robert Dawson Scott, STV, 25/02/2011

However well Philip Howard's production reflects the iconography of Monroe, the script is without dramatic interest: no question to be resolved, no crisis to be confronted and only Monroe's eternal mystique to sustain us.

(*) (*) (*) Mark Fisher, The Guardian, 01/03/2011

This excellent potted history drops the rose tinted Chanel sunglasses through which we view Monroe and dextrously searches for the dark roots of one of film’s most misunderstood stars.

(*) Scott Purvis, Whatsonstage.com, 03/03/2011

The play rests too heavily on the crutch of Monroe’s prominent iconography. The public perception of her as a “blonde bombshell” contrasting that of a frail, tortured girl striving for perfection is an empty sentiment, as countless Monroe biographies have graphed her externalised personality.

(*) (*) Andrew, TV Bomb, 20/03/2011

Howard’s production is a faithful and stunning realisation of two ordinary women who found themselves thrust into an unusual world and did what they thought was right, whether it was by using one’s sexuality or exploiting one’s political beliefs in order to survive.

(*) Amy Taylor, The Journal, 06/05/2011