# Strawhead

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For the British folk musical group, see [Strawhead (band)](/source/Strawhead_(band)).

***Strawhead*** is a [play](/source/Play_(theatre)) by [American](/source/United_States) writers [Norman Mailer](/source/Norman_Mailer) and Richard Hannum about [Marilyn Monroe](/source/Marilyn_Monroe). The play is an [adaptation](/source/Theatrical_adaptation) of Mailer's 1980 book *[Of Women and Their Elegance](/source/Of_Women_and_Their_Elegance)*, an imagined memoir told in Monroe's voice.[1]

*Strawhead* takes place in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) during the last few days of Monroe's life in August 1962. During this period, she is alone with her memories, most of which revolve around her time living in New York City.[2] The play is primarily composed of a collection of imagined interviews, that never took place, between Monroe and Mailer during Monroe's last hours.[3]

The play made its [off-Broadway](/source/Off_Broadway) debut in January 1986, with Mailer's wife [Norris Church](/source/Norris_Church_Mailer) in the cast and his daughter [Kate Mailer](/source/Kate_Mailer) in the role of Monroe.[2] Kate Mailer also appeared on the April 1986 cover of [*Vanity Fair*](/source/Vanity_Fair_(magazine)) as the Monroe character in *Strawhead.*[4]

## Development

In 1967, [Norman Mailer](/source/Norman_Mailer) had adapted his 1955 novel *[The Deer Park](/source/The_Deer_Park)* for an [Off Broadway](/source/Off_Broadway) production.[1] Thirteen years later, in 1980, [Norman Mailer](/source/Norman_Mailer)'s agent informed Mailer that Richard Hannum, then a [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan) roommate of [Godspell](/source/Godspell) creator [John-Michael Tebelak](/source/John-Michael_Tebelak),[5] [American](/source/United_States) [Pulitzer Prize](/source/Pulitzer_Prize)-winning [film critic](/source/Film_criticism) [Stephen Hunter](/source/Stephen_Hunter), and [film director](/source/Film_director) and [composer](/source/Composer) [Tom O'Horgan](/source/Tom_O'Horgan) were interested in a stage adaptation of Mailer's 1980 book, *Of Women and Their Elegance*.[1] Mailer agreed to work on the play since it would be a pleasant diversion: "Novel writing is a lonely business. Lonely business quickly becomes grim. In theater you're working with people. The climate is a lot warmer."[1]

The stage adaptation was Mailer's second [foray](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/foray) into the theater behind the adaptation of *The Deer Park*.[1] The play takes its title from an FBI code name for Monroe.[6] According to Mailer, Strawhead represents "(Marilyn's) ironic, whimsical, tortured way of thinking."[3] Mailer sees the fictional Monroe character in the play as "having an immensely dialectical mind; no sooner does she have a thought, than she comes on its opposite. That's the way life presents itself to her - in contrasts and sudden shifts."[3]

In January 1981, Hannum and Hunter were listed as the producers of the play and O'Horgan was listed as the director.[1] At that time, Mailer had hoped that the play would open on [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) in the spring 1981 or the fall 1981, but had not yet [cast](/source/Casting_(performing_arts)) the Monroe character.[1] In addition, Hannum still was working on the play construction and Mailer was working on the play dialogue from his writing desk in [Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn_Heights,_Brooklyn).[1][7]

To move the script along, Mailer presented the beginnings of *Strawhead* for critique to the [Actors Studio Playwright And Directors Unit](/source/Actors_Studio), an exclusive group to which Mailer belonged.[8] The early draft had a clichéd Monroe giving a [blowjob](/source/Blowjob) to the Mailer-interviewer character.[8] In response to former Marilyn Monroe roommate and [Academy Award](/source/Academy_Awards) winning actress [Shelley Winters](/source/Shelley_Winters) blasting Mailer's effort, Mailer rewrote the part to be a burly Maileresque feminist who burst into the play from the audience.[8]

## Production

With the script finished, Mailer and the others set out to find the lead actress for the play. In October 1982, Mailer was attending a [Park Avenue](/source/Park_Avenue_(Manhattan)) dinner party given by [Claus von Bülow](/source/Claus_von_B%C3%BClow), who at that time was on trial for the [attempted murder](/source/Attempted_murder) of von Bülow's wife, Sunny, and had been out of jail only two days on US$1 million bail.[9] Also attending the party was [Australian](/source/Australia)-based [theatre](/source/Theatre) [actress](/source/Actress) [Kate Fitzpatrick](/source/Kate_Fitzpatrick).[9] Fitzpatrick was introduce to Mailer and spoke with Mailer during dinner after Mailer swapped the place cards to seat Fitzpatrick beside him.[9] After deciding that Fitzpatrick was perfect to play Marilyn Monroe in *Strawhead,* Mailer, Hunter, and Hannum met with Fitzpatrick to give her the script.[9][10] Fitzpatrick turned down the part, since she already was committed to playing Marilyn Monroe in [Terry Johnson](/source/Terry_Johnson_(dramatist))'s 1982 play, *[Insignificance](/source/Terry_Johnson_(dramatist)#as_playwright).*[9]

The producers made additional efforts to find a noted actor to play the lead role. Prior to 1983, Mailer, Hunter, and Hannum also courted [American](/source/United_States) actress [Susan Sarandon](/source/Susan_Sarandon) to play the Marilyn Monroe character.[3] Sarandon declined the lead role with the query, "Why should I perpetuate someone else's legend when I should be creating my own?"[3]

On March 7, 1983, the [American Repertory Theatre](/source/American_Repertory_Theatre) at Mailer's *[alma mater](/source/Alma_mater)* [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) in [Cambridge, Massachusetts](/source/Cambridge,_Massachusetts), presented a staged reading of *Strawhead.*[11] The presentation was part of the theaters noted Monday night series at the [Loeb Drama Center](/source/Loeb_Drama_Center).[11] [ART](/source/American_Repertory_Theatre) actor Karen MacDonald played the lead role.[3] At this point, the play was an unproduced [spec script](/source/Spec_script),[11] Mailer thought the play needed trimming,[3] and there were no immediate plans to produce *Strawhead.*[3]

In June 1983, it was announced that *Strawhead* would be produced by Marshall Oglesby at [Provincetown Playhouse](/source/Provincetown_Playhouse) in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan).[12] At Mailer's recommendation, Oglesby selected [ART](/source/American_Repertory_Theatre) actor Karen MacDonald to play the Monroe character.[13][14] In late August 1983, *Strawhead* was presented at [Provincetown Playhouse](/source/Provincetown_Playhouse).[13]

In November 1985, Mailer brought his play to the [Actors Studio](/source/Actors_Studio),[2] an [Off Broadway](/source/Off_Broadway) theater and school that gained worldwide recognition under the leadership of [Lee Strasberg](/source/Lee_Strasberg). The scenes presented were [workshop](/source/Workshop) scenes[15] and Mailer put himself in position of director of the two-act production.[2] In addition to the cast including Robert Heller, Mickey Knox and Patrick Sullivan, Mailer added his wife Norris Church to the cast.[2] There was no admission charge to the workshop.[2]

## Debut and aftermath

In January 1986, *Strawhead* was debuted in full at the Actors Studio,[15] with actor and playwright John Jiler playing Mr. Charles.[16] American playwright and critic [Bonnie Greer](/source/Bonnie_Greer), who shared a close relationship to Mailer and reviewed an initial version of the play, stated that what Mailer put on stage ultimately was not Monroe.[8] Rather, the play was more about "chronicling all Mailer's life as The Great, White, Male Heterosexual, "Big Daddy", "The Man.""[8]

In April 1986, it was first reported that Mailer's daughter [Kate Mailer](/source/Kate_Mailer) was added to the cast in the lead role.[4] The choice was in interesting one since the play characterizes a fictional interaction between Monroe and Mailer and an early draft had a clichéd Monroe giving a [blowjob](/source/Blowjob) to the Mailer-interviewer character.[8] In explaining Mailer's choice of casting his 23-year-old, unknown actress daughter in his play, Mailer stated, "She was the best [prep-school](/source/University-preparatory_school#United_States_and_Canada) actress I'd ever seen."[4] To bring publicity to the play and to sell the [Vanity Fair](/source/Vanity_Fair_(magazine)) magazine, Kate Mailer appeared on the April 1986 Vanity Fair cover as the Marilyn Monroe character in *Strawhead*.[4] In October 1987, the [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times) describe Kate Mailer's portrayal of Monroe as teenage [punk rocker](/source/Punk_rocker) who is "less identified with her role."[17]

After the 1986 performances, the commercial performance of *Strawhead* all but disappeared.[18] In her 2005 book *The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe,* author [Sarah Churchwell](/source/Sarah_Churchwell) notes that *Strawhead* was a commercial failure.[18]

In April 2008, [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) received the papers of the co-author of the play, Richard G. Hannum,[19] formerly a resident of [Sebastian, Florida](/source/Sebastian,_Florida).[20] Included with those papers were correspondence with Mailer and drafts and final script for *Strawhead*.[19] The drafts and final script evidence the [literary techniques](/source/Literary_technique) used in *Strawhead* and Mailer's efforts to continually improve his own writing for *Strawhead* and that of Hannums.[19] Importantly, they convey research and teaching about how the style and substance of *Strawhead* was developed through layers of revision.[19]

## See also

Source:[21]

- *[Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?](/source/Will_Success_Spoil_Rock_Hunter%3F_(play)):* 1955 play, Rita Marlowe character is an exaggerated [lampoon](/source/Lampoons) of Monroe
- *[After the Fall](/source/After_the_Fall_(play))*: play by Monroe's ex-husband [Arthur Miller](/source/Arthur_Miller), uses the Monroe persona as a character
- *[Insignificance](/source/Insignificance_(play))*: play by [Terry Johnson](/source/Terry_Johnson_(dramatist)), Monroe's persona serves as the unnamed Actress
- *[Finishing the Picture](/source/Finishing_the_Picture)*: play by Monroe's ex-husband [Arthur Miller](/source/Arthur_Miller), uses the Monroe persona as a character

## References

1. Lawson, Carol. (January 30, 1981). ["Broadway; Leach to direct musical on orphans going west by rail"](https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F17FB395F0C738FDDA80894D9484D81) *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)*, section C, p. C2.

1. Nemy, Enid. (December 20, 1985). ["Broadway"](https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E1FF93E5F0C738EDDAB0994DD484D81) *[New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, section C2.

1. Engstrom, John. (March 9, 1983) "Norman wasn't stormin'. No thunderbolts from Mailer or his audience during a reading of his new play". *[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)*, section: "Living".

1. Burns, Diane Hubbard. (April 3, 1986). "Luring covers promise a lot, deliver little". *[Orlando Sentinel](/source/Orlando_Sentinel)*, section: "Style", p. E1.

1. Castillo, Angel. (May 12, 1981) [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times) *[Frampton suit puts focus on cohabitation law.](https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3091FF83C5C0C718DDDAC0894D9484D81)* Section: B; Page 1.

1. [People (magazine)](/source/People_(magazine)) (October 19, 1992) *[Lorenzo Carcaterra, Carol Peace, Jill Rachlin, Ralph Novak, Eric Levin.](http://www.people.com/people/archive/issue/0,,7566921019,00.html)* Section: Picks & Pans. Page 36. (writing, " The uninitiated -- for whom the line between fact and fiction will be all but blurred -- may simply tire of repetitive accounts of Marilyn popping pills and the FBI's bugging every room that Strawhead (Monroe's code name) visited.")

1. [Time (magazine)](/source/Time_(magazine)) (January 5, 1987) *[Most of '86](https://web.archive.org/web/20101022212244/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963169,00.html),* Section: Show Business; Page 74.

1. [Greer, Bonnie](/source/Bonnie_Greer). (November 12, 2007) [The Independent](/source/The_Independent) *[Farewell to a feisty, fearless keeper of the flame.](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20071112/ai_n21103404)* Section: Comment; Page 36.

1. Writer, Larry. (September 2, 2006) [Australian Magazine](/source/News_Limited) (News Limited pubs.) *Dream Dates - The food Issue 2006.* Section: Magazine 1; Page 37. (Tagline: "Kate Fitzpatrick and other well-known Australians tell Larry Writer about their most memorable dinner companions.")

1. [The Canberra Times](/source/The_Canberra_Times) (April 11, 2004) *[A few good stories and some.](http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20971270_ITM)*

1. McKinnon, George. (February 27, 1983) [The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) *Marquee Dancin' in the street!' to reopen as cabaret.* Section: Arts/Films.

1. Kelly, Kevin. (June 26, 1983) [The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) *Boston getting into the summer theater act.* Section: Arts/Films.

1. Kelly, Kevin. (June 13, 1984) [The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) *Lives in the arts. If it's a part, Karen MacDonald can play it.* Section Arts/Films.

1. Engstrom, John. (July 28, 1983) [The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) *There's more to Cape Cod than the beach theater.* Section: Calendar.

1. King, Larry L.; Holland, Richard. (October 1999) *[A Writer's Life in Letters, Or, Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye.](https://books.google.com/books?id=DPgmoPTnn78C&dq=Strawhead&pg=PA296)* Page 296. Publisher: [Texas Christian University Press](/source/Texas_Christian_University_Press) ISBN 0-87565-203-4

1. Jiler, John. (1995) *[Avenue X: The a Capella Musical.](https://books.google.com/books?id=cynzIuUCn_IC&dq=strawhead&pg=PP2)* Page i. Publisher: Samuel French, Inc. ISBN 0-573-69561-X.

1. Klein, Alvin. (October 4, 1987) [New York Times](/source/New_York_Times) *[Guild hall opens '2D season'.](https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDA143BF937A35753C1A961948260)* Section: 11LI; Page 20.

1. Churchwell, Sarah. (December 27, 2005) *[The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe.](https://books.google.com/books?id=vxx8QUeHHsUC&dq=strawhead&pg=PA73)* Page 73. Publisher: Picador. ISBN 0-312-42565-1

1. houghtonmodern. (April 24, 2008) [Houghton Library](/source/Houghton_Library) *[Mailer at Harvard.](http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2008/04/24/mailer-at-harvard/)* Accessed June 22, 2008.

1. [Vero Beach Press Journal](/source/Scripps_Treasure_Coast_Newspapers) (June 19, 2005) *Real Estate Sales.* Section: Business; Page D8.

1. [American Theatre](/source/Theatre_Communications_Group) (July 1, 2006) *[To Norma Jean, with Love.](https://web.archive.org/web/20121020104935/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-148289544.html)* Volume 23; Issue 6; Page 13.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Strawhead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawhead) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawhead?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.