The Marilyn Conspiracy - Park Theatre 200
Jun 22, 2024 22:41:41 GMT
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Post by Steve on Jun 22, 2024 22:41:41 GMT
Saw today's matinee and liked a lot of it, but its a play of two halves.
The half that features Genevieve Gaunt's Marilyn Monroe is great, the half that does not, is not.
Some spoilers follow. . .
The two halves I describe are chopped up, with the show constantly flashing backwards and forwards, from immediately before her death to immediately after her death.
Gaunt, who was hilarious (only slightly less funny than Alex Bhat, who had all the best lines lol) in Rattigan's "French without Tears" at the Orange Tree, is here out and out the main reason to see this show, in my opinion.
Her squeaky, breathy, excitable, giggly, fearful, vulnerable, mercurial, impetuous Marilyn is a moment to moment marvel.
However, the conspiracy show around her, is much weaker than her characterisation. The scenes that depict the chit chat of her pals after her death are like the revelations of a Poirot mystery without either Poirot or the Chief Suspect being present, and let's face it, the whole joy of such scenes is watching a brilliant detective being brilliant and a diabolical villain squirming, and you get neither here.
The Kennedy Brothers are implicated by the chit chat we hear, but by opting not to characterise either Bobby or Jack Kennedy, the play misses a massive trick, and instead subjects us to endless speculation and hearsay, in place of actual drama. The closest we get to a villain in the piece is Declan Bennett's Peter Lawford, a close associate of the Kennedys, having married one. Bennett is good when his accent isn't wobbling between New and Old England, which it does just a bit more than I would have liked.
Instead of Poirot being brilliant, we mostly get Susie Amy's Pat Newcomb (well, her character was never gonna be implicated because she's still alive lol) pointing fingers at all and sundry, and while Amy is good, there's no brilliance to her case solving, more like just prodding her finger in the same direction again and again and again.
Gaunt's helium-voiced Marilyn is absolutely wonderful, however, in the half she appears, and hearing her say Peter Lawford's name in a million different snappy sarcy ways ("Peeee-ter!") is a delight, as is her coy squeaky joy about discovering pleasuring herself, or her exuberant wonder at Marlene Dietrich having slept with Hitler, etc, etc. And when she gets upset, it feels urgent, because Gaunt makes us feel the huge vulnerable hole in Monroe's people-pleasing persona.
Other than Gaunt, in the ensemble, I really liked Sally Mortemore's complex, moment to moment convincing characterisation of Monroe's housekeeper, Eunice, who is simultaneously immovable and pliable, depending on who she's talking to.
All in all, I rate the scenes with Gaunt an excellent and entertaining 4 stars, and the scenes without Gaunt as a tedious 2 star detective potboiler, making a worthwhile 3 star rating overall.
The half that features Genevieve Gaunt's Marilyn Monroe is great, the half that does not, is not.
Some spoilers follow. . .
The two halves I describe are chopped up, with the show constantly flashing backwards and forwards, from immediately before her death to immediately after her death.
Gaunt, who was hilarious (only slightly less funny than Alex Bhat, who had all the best lines lol) in Rattigan's "French without Tears" at the Orange Tree, is here out and out the main reason to see this show, in my opinion.
Her squeaky, breathy, excitable, giggly, fearful, vulnerable, mercurial, impetuous Marilyn is a moment to moment marvel.
However, the conspiracy show around her, is much weaker than her characterisation. The scenes that depict the chit chat of her pals after her death are like the revelations of a Poirot mystery without either Poirot or the Chief Suspect being present, and let's face it, the whole joy of such scenes is watching a brilliant detective being brilliant and a diabolical villain squirming, and you get neither here.
The Kennedy Brothers are implicated by the chit chat we hear, but by opting not to characterise either Bobby or Jack Kennedy, the play misses a massive trick, and instead subjects us to endless speculation and hearsay, in place of actual drama. The closest we get to a villain in the piece is Declan Bennett's Peter Lawford, a close associate of the Kennedys, having married one. Bennett is good when his accent isn't wobbling between New and Old England, which it does just a bit more than I would have liked.
Instead of Poirot being brilliant, we mostly get Susie Amy's Pat Newcomb (well, her character was never gonna be implicated because she's still alive lol) pointing fingers at all and sundry, and while Amy is good, there's no brilliance to her case solving, more like just prodding her finger in the same direction again and again and again.
Gaunt's helium-voiced Marilyn is absolutely wonderful, however, in the half she appears, and hearing her say Peter Lawford's name in a million different snappy sarcy ways ("Peeee-ter!") is a delight, as is her coy squeaky joy about discovering pleasuring herself, or her exuberant wonder at Marlene Dietrich having slept with Hitler, etc, etc. And when she gets upset, it feels urgent, because Gaunt makes us feel the huge vulnerable hole in Monroe's people-pleasing persona.
Other than Gaunt, in the ensemble, I really liked Sally Mortemore's complex, moment to moment convincing characterisation of Monroe's housekeeper, Eunice, who is simultaneously immovable and pliable, depending on who she's talking to.
All in all, I rate the scenes with Gaunt an excellent and entertaining 4 stars, and the scenes without Gaunt as a tedious 2 star detective potboiler, making a worthwhile 3 star rating overall.
