Full casting announced for Torben Betts’ SPECULATIONS at Marylebone Theatre
Following Wild Yak and Marylebone Theatre’s announcement of the world premiere of Speculations by Torben Betts, directed by multi-award-winning, legendary theatre and film director Trevor Nunn and starring Olivier Award-winner Janie Dee as Dorothy Kilgallen, the remaining cast has been announced today.
The cast includes Jolyon Coy (Bird Grove, Hampstead Theatre) as Bobby, Natalie Dunne (Little Women, UK tour) as Norma Jean, Gloria Obianyo (As You Like It, Theatre Royal Bath) as Flo, Joseph Potter (Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s Globe) as Lee, and Ferdy Roberts (Kyoto, RSC/@sohoplace) as Carlos.
Speculations is a gripping new political thriller about one of America’s most celebrated journalists, Dorothy Kilgallen, who sets out on a mission to discover the truth behind three of the most infamous deaths of the 20th century.
Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald. Three deaths that shook America. One woman refused to stop asking questions.
New York, 1965. Dorothy Kilgallen is on the trail of the biggest story of her career, but the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous the questions become. And when the threats reach inside her own home, she must decide how far she is prepared to go to tell a story some very powerful people would rather remain untold.
Designed by Lee Newby, with lighting by Johanna Town and sound by Gregory Clarke, Speculations plays at Marylebone Theatre from 30 October - 3 January.
Trevor Nunn said: “For my entire professional career, I have been intrigued by contradictions concerning the assassination of President Kennedy and the death of Marilyn Monroe. Now, excitingly, I have the opportunity to investigate those shocking events by directing a new play by Torben Betts called Speculations. An important American journalist, Dorothy Kilgallen, became fascinated by those contradictions and it is her speculations (as played by Janie Dee) that we follow in this gripping new play.”
Torben Betts said: “I’ve never believed that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of JFK, and I’ve always found the circumstances surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s death deeply suspicious. But since discovering Dorothy Kilgallen and how her investigation began to uncover possible connections between these seemingly separate deaths, I’ve become convinced that hers is a story that needs to be told, and I’d like to do my small part as a playwright to give a voice back to a courageous woman I believe was silenced.”
