In 1955 Monroe has fled from the intense glare of the film industry, her public and her lovers and checked into an anonymous motel. She meets a handsome but mysterious stranger and opens up to him —but in so doing she sows the seeds of her own death.

Black’s play was first staged in Axminster in June and has since been seen at the Buxton Opera House. He has written 40 plays and eight musicals. Currently, he’s working on a film musical called “Cherkazoo”—written with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan—for BBG Films.

RSC alumnus Jonathan Hyde, last seen in London in Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers, will direct. Though better known as an actor, Hyde has previously sat in the director’s chair when he oversaw Isobel Buchanan’s cabaret evening In and Out of Love— coincidentally at the Almeida. Joanna Hole, who produces, is also best-known as an actor and is currently featuring in the Channel 4 series “NY-LON”.

Andrew Crabb plays the stranger. He has previously appeared in Black’s plays Leviathan, The Dining Chair and his musical Jesse James. He starred alongside Day in Joanna Hole’s Chekhov’s Sister at the 2004 Frome Festival.

The play previews from Sept. 7, with opening night on Sept. 20, and runs for four weeks. For more information, call the King’s Head on 020 7226 1916.