Review: Speculations at the Marylebone Theatre – A Breathless West End-Scale Triumph

Marylebone Theatre surprises and delights again with the world premiere of Torben Betts’ political thriller Speculations. Directed by the legendary Sir Trevor Nunn, this high-calibre production brings West End grandeur to a jewel-box theatre.

As Artistic Director Alexander J. Gifford notes in the programme, the Marylebone is a completely independent venue receiving no public funding. Knowing this makes the sheer scale of the production value on display feel like an even more heroic achievement.

Stepping into the venue for press night felt like stepping directly into Dorothy Kilgallen’s world. Located just off Regent’s Park, the theatre features unique, historic Expressionist architecture—defined by sweeping, organic curves and an absence of rigid right angles—that beautifully mirrors the mid-century New York aesthetic of the play. On arrival, audiences were greeted by the warm, reassuring sounds of live 1960s jazz music pouring into the foyer, immediately establishing an upscale, sophisticated Upper East Side salon atmosphere.

The Synopsis: Worlds Collide

Set in New York in 1965, the story centers on real-life trailblazing journalist and What’s My Line? star Dorothy Kilgallen (played with assured poise by Janie Dee) as she pieces together a dangerous exposé on the Kennedy administration and the New Orleans underworld. The narrative unfolds as a play-within-a-play while Dorothy shares her meticulous, top-secret research with her newly hired babysitter, Flo Jackson (Gloria Obianyo).

Dorothy’s central, explosive thesis binds the seemingly disparate tragedies of the decade into a singular, damning manuscript: the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and JFK were intrinsically linked by a web of political self-preservation and Mafia blackmail.

As Dorothy sips neat vodka, tottering slightly as the alcohol takes hold, her mounting paranoia becomes visceral. She twitches at the windows, parting the curtains as if expecting an immediate, physical threat from the outside world. Beside her rotary dial phone and typewriter, she takes Flo—and the audience—on a journey across a fracturing 1960s America.

We skip from the Upper East Side to Marilyn Monroe’s (Natalie Dunne) bedroom in California, a space drowning in piles of fan letters where the alluring starlet shares a tragic exchange with Attorney General Robert “Bobby” Kennedy (Jolyon Coy). We watch Bobby partially addressing a political convention, trying to desperately pull himself away from his affair with Marilyn, ultimately trying to navigate a way out of a treacherous situation for both himself and his president brother.

The action plunges down into a backroom Louisiana bar—where the authenticity is so sharp you know the props are real just by the way the liquor bottles shimmer under the lights. Here, we witness the powerful, chilling recruitment of a desperate Lee Harvey Oswald (Joseph Potter) by crime boss Carlos Marcello (Ferdy Roberts). Acting kudos must be paid to Potter and Roberts; their electric, slow-burning interaction plays out like a classic Scorsese setup, tracking a masterclass in mob grooming as Marcello smoothly secures him the book repository job and hands over a fateful wad of cash. It carries the heavy, fatalistic weight of a classic thriller; we watch Oswald being systematically used as a pawn, completely unaware that his own final chapter will be violently cut short by Jack Ruby—flashbulbs popping, live for TV.

Through Flo’s eyes, the play contrasts these massive machinations with deeply personal stakes. Flo anchors the emotional core of the piece, voicing her hopes for the small changes promised by the Kennedys to make Black Americans seen. Her dialogue cuts to the quick of the era’s hypocrisy, questioning why her own brother as lower income, black young man should be drafted across the world to fight for peasants in Vietnam when there are poor, starving people on her own American streets.

Staging a Masterclass

The production is a triumph across every theatrical department, defined by flawless acting and a jaw-dropping set and costume design by Lee Newby. Newby’s inspiration clearly draws from the flowing, undulating lines of the Marylebone’s historic auditorium, while grounding the staging in meticulous historical reality. The production beautifully evokes Kilgallen’s real-life five-story townhouse at 45 East 68th Street. That grand, neo-Federal mansion boasted the same towering 13-foot ceilings, classical symmetry, and deep architectural framing seen on stage. By echoing these classic proportions, Newby’s design gives Dorothy’s home a striking, heavy visual weight that directly mirrors the Oval Office. It visually signals that the decisions made at Dorothy’s desk hold the exact same world-altering stakes as those made inside the White House.

Newby has pulled out all the stops, outfitting the stage with a seamless, triple-revolve mechanism. It is a testament to the terrific direction of Sir Trevor Nunn, whose distinct vision to have the characters rotating through time on the revolves works beautifully. On press night, the tracks were practically invisible beneath the plush white carpet, flawlessly operated by production technician Chris.

The physical details are impeccable. Dorothy commands the stage in a sharp, chartreuse green silk dress that perfectly matches the custom casing of her Smith-Corona typewriter—a clever nod to her black-and-white television appearances where the vibrant shade was hidden from the public, existing as a private luxury. This meticulous detail extends even to the art on the walls. Hanging prominently above the classical fireplace mantle is a striking cubist, mid-century abstract landscape painting. Its presence serves as a brilliant visual metaphor, reinforcing the rigid, institutional aesthetic of the Upper East Side establishment and highlighting the elite social bubble that Dorothy operates within even as she uncovers the grittiest secrets of American power.

In stark contrast to Dorothy’s elegance, Flo’s brown dress and Lee Harvey Oswald’s lived-in, putty-coloured t-shirt exudes a gritty realism, while Bobby Kennedy’s tailored suit and fancy gold watch anchors him firmly in the elites.

Cast and Creatives

The production represents a deeply personal milestone for its creative leaders. In the program notes, Sir Trevor Nunn recalls exactly where he was when JFK was shot—directing in Coventry as a barmaid wept with the news—noting that these deeply troubling questions have “magnetised” him for six decades. Playwright Torben Betts reflects on the contemporary weight of the script, noting that Dorothy’s story isn’t antiquated, but rather mirrors the extreme dangers faced by modern journalists like Anna Politkovskaya, Jamal Khashoggi, and Marie Colvin who dared to challenge institutional truths. It is this profound modern resonance that makes this play absolutely essential viewing for journalists today, serving as a fierce, cautionary reminder of the cost of uncovering uncomfortable power structures. Betts praises the rehearsal process under Nunn, observing that “actors immediately expose anything that isn’t clear or emotionally truthful.”

The Cast

• Janie Dee (Dorothy Kilgallen): Delivers a beautifully textured performance as the relentless, sharp-witted journalist.
• Gloria Obianyo (Flo Jackson): Provides a beautifully weighted, deeply moving performance as the moral anchor of the play.
• Jolyon Coy (Robert F. Kennedy): Balances political charm with calculations of high-stakes self-preservation.
• Natalie Dunne (Marilyn Monroe): Captures the tragic, aloof pathos of Hollywood’s most exploited icon.
• Joseph Potter (Lee Harvey Oswald): Shines in a tense, exposition-heavy cat-and-mouse dynamic.
• Ferdy Roberts (Carlos Marcello): Commands the stage with a performance that deftly moves between jovial and sinister.
• Martyn Hodge: Ensemble & Male Understudy
• Katherine Moran: Understudy Dorothy / Marilyn
• Jessica Layde: Understudy Flo

The Creative & Production Team

The production is spearheaded by writer Torben Betts and director Sir Trevor Nunn, with comprehensive design backing from Lee Newby (Set & Costume), Johanna Town (Lighting), and Gregory Clarke (Sound & Composition). Stage management and general operations are handled by a dedicated backstage crew including Wild Yak and Lew Forman (General Management), Andrew Speed (Company Stage Manager), and Ellie Cummings (Deputy Stage Manager).

The Verdict

The sheer level of historical research on display—just as the real Dorothy would have done—is completely meticulous. It is the type of deep-dive production that leaves you headed straight to the history books to look up a dozen different details the moment you leave the auditorium.

Is it a thriller? Yes. Breathless? Absolutely. Could it do with just a touch more pace in the second half? Yes. Ironically, there is a meta-theatrical moment in the script where Dorothy herself sighs that she wants to live a normal life, go to the theatre, and complain about the second act. The play mimics life a bit too closely here; the mid-section does experience a dip in momentum. Perhaps the production could push the margins even further—we could easily take a bit more Americana and political edge from Bobby, a touch more tragic pink from Marilyn’s world, and an even more feisty, confrontational stance from Flo. We didn’t need the hoodlum nor the husband as add in extras. Keep it tight, it’s a thriller.

But as it stands, Speculations is an outright masterclass in design, staging, and performances. Following the final bows, guests and cast members and celebrity guests such as Sir Ian Mckellen celebrated at an exclusive after-show party, where glasses of Piper-Heidsieck champagne—famously Marilyn Monroe’s favourite—flowed freely alongside an endless selection of gourmet flatbreads from Dal Fiorentino.

For a reliable, thoroughly glamorous night out at a theatre that is rapidly cementing itself as an essential London destination, the Marylebone Theatre has hit another home run.