Last Updated on November 5, 2026
A misjudged riff on landmark deaths
2.0 out of 5.0 starsSpeculation already defines American public life. I am writing immediately after midterm election results; over the last two weeks, all kinds of conjectural graphs, polls and far-flung theories have flashed onto my phone. Speculation still delivers a kick. Marylebone Theatre’s latest play runs with this idea. Stage veteran Trevor Nunn directs Speculations – a political thriller about the theories of investigative journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. Drawing connections between the final moments of Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald, Speculations finds drama in unproven links between these historic deaths. Torben Betts’s script delights in the grey zones between truth and fiction, taking Kilgallen’s writing as permission to speculate about how these deaths really ‘went down’.
We join Kilgallen (Janie Dee – The Truth) in New York, a week before the publication of her bombshell book in which she alleges that Bobby Kennedy (Jolyon Coy – Bird Grove) tried to buy Monroe’s (Natalie Dunne – Pop) silence over state secrets and alleged intimacies with the Kennedy brothers. When Marilyn refuses to give up her diaries, Bobby poisons her and frames the death as suicide. Kilgallen also disputes that Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK assassin (played by Joseph Potter – Outrageous) and Jack Ruby (subsequent killer of Oswald) acted as lone wolf murderers. Instead, Kilgallen suggests mafia connections to both men and insinuates state-choreographed murder.
These speculations unravel with help from Flo (Gloria Obianyo – Dune), a young babysitter who arrives at the house, and in whom Kilgallen instantly confides. There’s real jeopardy here too: Kilgallen has just received an anonymous phone threat against her family; her allegations have clearly angered someone dangerous.
From here, Speculations jumps between Marilyn and Bobby’s final meeting in Los Angeles, and Oswald’s indoctrination by mafia boss Carlos Marcello (Ferdy Roberts – The Christophers). It morphs into a dot-to-dot history of organised crime and state cover-up that forcefully reframes narratives around historical flashpoints.
The mission of Speculations is to experiment with the dramatic potential of coincidences and concealments, to jolt us into new flights of fancy. As ex-artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, director Trevor Nunn adapts that well-worn Shakespearean line – “All the world’s a stage” – to a new context. But the trouble with Speculations is that very little feels new. Historical figures are imagined as cardboard cutouts of themselves – Marilyn bemoans the trials of fame; Bobby Kennedy laments the threat of Communism; Oswald pledges allegiance to Marx. Mostly the characters say what we expect them to say. In its form, the play is speculative; in script, it is predictable.
The characters seem to have swallowed their own biographies and got them lodged in their vocal cords. Their lines are often painfully melodramatic. Journalistic conjecture can be a fruitful dramatic premise (think All the Presidents’ Men), but it cannot rely on stock versions of the characters it speculates over. If there is anything new to dramatise about such towering figures, it surely requires sustained, textured character study.
There’s also friction in the relationship between Flo and Dorothy. Flo’s progression from wide-eyed babysitter to world-wise confidant feels incoherent. By the closing act, Flo instructs Dorothy (who never speaks of her journalistic pals or a close circle of any kind) to stay away from the windows. “Promise me you’ll be careful”, pleads Flo in a tone that suggests long-term kinship.
There are things to enjoy in Speculations. Lee Newby’s set cleverly rotates to merge past and present, and the cast give strong performances with what is a challenging text. But in trying to flip the script on cultural icons, Speculations largely repackages the old lines into a new story. Yes, there is fun to be had in the period sets and elegant clothing, but surprising takes on well-known figures go awry.
Speculations runs at Marylebone Theatre from Friday 30 October to Sunday 17 January.
Marylebone Theatre
Rudolf Steiner House
35 Park Rd
London
NW1 6XT
Looking for something different? Check out our review of The Revlon Girl at Park Theatre.
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