‘Marilyn’s Murder’ a Case of Idol Worship

Writer-producer-director Robert Light theorizes that Marilyn Monroe (Jessica Kiper) was assassinated as the result of a power struggle between JFK (Richard Raynesford) and J. Edgar Hoover (Richard Farrell). Although this is ostensibly the theme of the Prospectus Theatre production of “Marilyn’s Murder” at the Stella Adler Theatre, the play reads like idol worship, with a Greek chorus of bespectacled, white-robed priestesses reciting passages written by Monroe. When they carry lighted candles, you almost expect to hear Elton John’s wistful ballad.

According to Light, Monroe was “the woman all men want to love and all women want to be.” As director, he attempts to prove this by purposely making the priestesses unattractive. When Jackie Kennedy makes an appearance, dressed by Karina Abramian, she’s not as well-tailored as the woman who won the admiration of the French. And as played by Cherry Shore, she’s not the whispering figure of patrician grace under pressure.

At 21, Kiper looks too young and fresh to play a boozing, pill-popping star in her mid-30s. Anguish contorts her face into nothing more than a pout.

The transitions between the priestesses and the conspiracy scenes are awkward. Neither Kennedy displays womanizing charm, although Justin Paul Rubin’s Robert has his moments.

Light would have built a better case with a more balanced account, displaying Monroe’s self-destructive tendencies, the ugliness behind the beauty and, perhaps, admitting to himself that some men and women preferred the woman who became Jackie O.

* “Marilyn’s Murder,” Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Thursday-Sunday, 8 p.m. Ends Sunday. $15-$20. (323) 433-4343. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.