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| Ison's Marilyn Kulcsar |
It was a chilly August night and I was looking for a show to see and so I came across a play about Marilyn Monroe at the Seattle Public Theater, Sleep, Marilyn and Dream, a new play Written, Designed, and directed by Hungarian bred, David Kulcsar, as he told me in an Exclusive interview, is a play about "The inspiration behind the play was to tell a story in which I could explore current issues ( class, media, income inequality, and immigration/citizenship) by putting it into an artistic context; in this case, Marilyn Monroe in an afterlife where people in Purgatory are used as labor in Heaven. I also really wanted to show a different side of Marilyn and explore the things that mainstream media doesn't really show about her (her fear of sex, her childhood, etc.) So, I created what I did to tell both stories in one neat little package. It's a project I always wanted to do, but I didn't start writing it until around November of last year when I had a dream in which Marilyn Monroe and I were having coffee, and she not only knew my name, but asked about the play...".
Yes, you read that right, Marilyn (looking like she is 28) arrives in Heaven, 54 years later, it was delayed, largely based on her apparent suicide and now she has a suite in the Lush Hollywood highrise and is visited by old friends, Marlon Brando (Kulcsar), Jane Russell (Mindy Beal), and meets Audrey Hepburn (Emily Shuel) for the first time.
Marilyn also meets up with her crazy mother, Gladys (Allegra Stahl), who is just arriving from Purgatory and still slightly crazy and doesn't recognize Marilyn as her daughter, Norma Jean. Arthur Miller (Robert Fuentes) shows up later as a visitor from Hell with a huge revelation.
The center of the play is Molly (Rachel Brow), who works as a maid at the Residence but lives in Purgatory, because, she and her baby sister died before birth. Lexa (Caitlyn Hamilton) is the tough guardian that sticks to her guns about rules and regulations in Heaven, and can be a total Bitch.
Kulcsar explains, "When I wrote the play, I based purgatory off of the Nazi ghettos of World War II (hence the armbands etc.) and communistic regimes (a play off the red scare that happened during Marilyn's lifetime.) Purgatory and Heaven are both explained to be cities, but Heaven is first class, cleanly, and Utopian, while Purgatory is the exact opposite (as Molly in the play mentions, Purgatory also lacks things like condiments, silverware, cars, and "ownable" homes; apartments are assigned to people.) In truth then, Purgatory is also a metaphor for the lower and middle class, while Heaven is a metaphor for the top 1%.".
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| Shuel's Hepburn Kulcsar |
The Play is funny and serious after thoughts with audience were truly laughing during intermission and continued through Act 2. Come with an open mind because this is 'a Triumph'!
Sleep, Marilyn and Dream, continues Seattle Public Theater at The Bathhouse through Sept 14th. Go to the Website for Information.
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