Theater

38 WITNESSED HER DEATH
I WITNESSED HER LOVE:
THE LONELY SECRET OF MARY ANN ZIELONKO
(Kitty Genovese Story)

A ONE-ACT PLAY

Written and Performed by
LuLu LoLo
Based on personal interviews with Mary Ann Zielonko

On March 13, 1964, in Kew Gardens, Queens, NY, Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered—14 days after her murder it was revealed by the New York Times that 38 people witnessed her being attacked in three separate incidents—38 people heard her cries for help—And not one person called the police or came to her aid. Her death highlighted the apathy of a city. Forty years after Kitty Genovese’s death, Mary Ann Zielonko gave her first interview revealing that she was Kitty’s lover.

38 WITNESSED HER DEATH, I WITNESSED HER LOVE: THE LONELY SECRET OF MARY ANN ZIELONKO (Kitty Genovese Story) is a four part/three character drama. The play unfolds with a “Chorus of 38”—as LuLu portrays the indifference of the people who witness Kitty Genovese being attacked. The characters portrayed are: New York Times City Editor A.M. Rosenthal recalls how a chance comment to him by the Police Commissioner led to the headline story of the apathy of 38 witnesses. Winston Moseley (who confessed to Kitty’s murder) takes the witness stand, using his actual trial transcript—the audience hears his utter detachment to the killing. In the final scene Mary Ann Zielonko reminisces after 40 years of silence about gay life in the 60’s, her life with Kitty, the murder, the trial, and its aftermath.