Celebrated playwright Arthur Miller is writing a play loosely based on his ex-wife Marilyn Monroe's problems during the 1961 filming of The Misfits. Though the Monroe character Kitty is never seen on stage, all the characters on the set constantly talk about her, trying to figure out how to get her back to work. Provisionally titled Finishing the Picture the new play was recently performed at a reading in New York for a group of Miller’s friends and associates.

The Misfits, written by Miller, turned out to be Monroe's last film. She died of a drug overdose a year after it was completed. These...