Hastings Fringe - Died Blondes

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Marilyn Monroe. Ruth Ellis. Infamous women. Famous last words.

Marilyn Monroe, movie star. Ruth Ellis, murderer. Infamous women. Famous last words, reimagined. Written and performed by award-winning writer, Joan Ellis pieces together the latest theories creating two dramatic monologues which enable these so-called dumb blondes to find their voice moments before they die.

Marilyn Monroe, JFK's ex-mistress whispers secrets about the Kennedy clan down the phone to ex-husband, Joe DiMaggio, telling him exactly who wants her dead and why. In one neurotic, paranoid last phone call, she begs DiMaggio to save her from threats, real and imagined as she relives her past and is finally overpowered for the final time by one of the most powerful men in the USA, the President's brother, Bobby Kennedy.

Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, alone in her cell minutes before her execution reads her letter to lover, David Blakely, justifying why she shot him. She makes no attempt to atone for her crime. Her aim is to have the last word. For once. Driven to the brink by Blakely's constant infidelities and abuse, she was a woman who had been humiliated and beaten for the last time and sought the ultimate revenge.

DIED BLONDES was awarded a free slot at this year's Brighton Fringe and the Ruth Ellis monologue won a place on the programme at London's Cockpit Theatre.