By the Word Productions premiered Franca Miraglia’s American Devotion in the Studio at Crow’s Theatre on Thursday. The playwright imagines what might have happened if Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe had invited Norman Mailer and his wife over for dinner or drinks at their Connecticut farmhouse.

In American Devotion Mailer shows up at the Millers having engineered a drinks invitation but leaving his wife behind. He has a cunning plan to use Miller’s upcoming appearance before the House Unamerican Activities Committee to their mutual advantage; Miller will be spared jail and Mailer will get the publicity his flagging career desperately needs. If Marilyn can be persuaded to cooperate.