Curve theatre has announced Misfits Together, a new musical exploring the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, with music by Bastille frontman Dan Smith. The production will premiere at Curve’s Studio Theatre in 2027.

Misfits Together, set in 1950s America, tells the story of Monroe and Miller navigating their marriage amid the pressures of Hollywood, political persecution, and their careers. The musical highlights Monroe’s efforts to control her public image alongside Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklist. The pair were married from 1956 to 1961.

Dan Smith and Ralph Pelleymounter provide the music and lyrics, marking Smith’s first fully staged musical composition. Smith and Pelleymounter previously collaborated on Bastille’s “Give Me the Future” title track and the concept album Annie Oakley Hanging, while Pelleymounter is known as the frontman of To Kill a King and co-writer of Rag’n’Bone Man’s “Perfume”.

The book is written by Charlotte Bogard Macleod, founder of The Script Factory and a BBC Drama Award nominee. Her previous work includes Still Avoiding Tomorrow, an immersive theatre project featuring Bastille, and The Story of Eglantyne Jebb: Founder of Save the Children.

Nikolai Foster, artistic director of Curve, will direct Misfits Together, which runs at Curve’s Studio Theatre from 4 September to 2 October 2027. The musical’s score was recorded as a studio album in 2025 at Dairy Studios in Brixton, Suffolk, and Abbey Road Studios, produced by Will Bloomfield. Guest performers on the album include Moira Mack, Charlie Barnes, and Ruti.

Smith and Pelleymounter described the story as “a 75-year-old story” that still resonates, citing themes of polarising politics, sexism, and career-threatening blacklists. They also said they “enjoyed the sense of freedom and play” in writing the songs for this new musical.

Bogard Macleod said the show celebrates Monroe and Miller’s “smart and sexy love story,” emphasizing Monroe’s overlooked intelligence and Miller’s understanding of her artistic brilliance.

Misfits Together represents a notable collaboration between contemporary musicians and theatre makers, with Smith also working on a separate musical project titled Young Romantics.