"So many perceptions of Marilyn Monroe are based around her death. With this play, we wanted to get people interested in her life.”

When she was initially offered the role of Marilyn Monroe for a national tour by Dyad Productions and writer-director Elton Townend Jones, former Varndean College pupil Lizzie Wort admits she was not a big fan of the screen icon.

“I had seen a few of her films but was one of the people who thought she wasn’t a good actress,” she says.

“When I got offered the job, I started actually watching the films. With The Prince And The Showgirl, I was bowled over by how wonderful she was. She acted Laurence Olivier off the screen. He’s trying to do a serious bit of acting and she’s faultlessly clowning around – her comic timing is amazing. She has won me over.

“Her whole career was an enormous act which fooled everyone. I’ve had time to study her and watch her – she was really clever. This show is about bringing out that side of her – the articulate, witty, dry, sarcastic, opinionated woman in real life, who was a feminist and very well-read, with a real thirst for knowledge. There was so much more to her.”

A fan of Monroe since childhood, Jones had spent many years writing the script for the one-woman show – which imagines the last hour and 25 minutes of her life in Monroe’s cluttered bedroom as she recounts her story to the audience.

“It’s very naked and raw,” says Wort, who dons a dressing gown for the show rather than adopt Monroe’s famous sleeping habit of wearing just her Chanel No 5 in bed.

“The script is wonderfully written and rich. She’s in her bedroom away from the cameras, without her make-up, alone with her thoughts.”

Even the famous blonde wig is left to one side as Monroe recounts stories of the stars she worked with and her three husbands – from the lesser-known merchant marine James Dougherty to baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller.

“She was part of that time of huge contracts and starlets,” says Wort. “She was so glamorous but I think she touched a lot of people’s hearts. There was this tragic element to her – she died so young, she always seemed to be with the wrong man and was always looking to be loved.

“She has lasted the test of time, although for the wrong reasons because of her death and the conspiracy theories surrounding it.

“I think if she hadn’t been on that destructive path her career would have seen her take on more serious roles, and a more political role as a spokesperson for women. In her late interviews she wanted to talk about politics and serious issues. She was desperate to get out of the box 20th Century Fox had created for her.”

Throughout the performance is Monroe’s battle with the drugs she has ingested that are filtering through her system.

“There are moments in the script where she suddenly flips or has a random thought which is drug-induced,” says Wort. “We took time to plot where the pills would go, and when the next drug rush might be. It was a long process and very hard work.

“The play is a real roller-coaster journey. In the beginning she’s full of vibrancy and spark but each time there’s only one way it will go.”

Although Jones’s script is based in part on Monroe’s own diaries, Wort admits she avoided reading too much around her subject – focusing instead on the movies, filmed interviews and photographs.

“If I started reading too much, I might start reading people’s opinions that weren’t true,” she says. “I wanted to stick to her thoughts and feelings as expressed in the script.

“I didn’t want to do an impersonation or impression – I wanted to find the Monroe no one knew.”

  • The Unremarkable Death Of Marilyn Monroe is at Connaught Theatre, Union Place, Worthing, on Saturday, April 19 Starts 4pm and 7.30pm, tickets £14.50. Call 01903 206206.
  • Also at The Hawth, Hawth Avenue, Crawley, on Thursday, April 24. Starts 7.45pm, tickets £15/£13. Call 01293 553636.