21 – 30 October 2021
by Amanda Whittington
A hostess in the West End ‘gentlemen’s clubs’, Ruth Ellis works hard, plays hard and dreams of a movie-star life. Yet in 1955, the self-styled ‘blonde bombshell’ is convicted of murder and becomes the last woman to be hanged in Great Britain.
Ruth’s crime is re-examined in the light of the society she lived in and the experiences that led to her shooting her lover. Through the eyes of film noir Detective Inspector Gale – and the haunting voice of Billie Holiday – The Thrill of Love explores the enigma of Ruth Ellis: a woman whose short but explosive life still resonates.
CAST
Ruth Ellis | Lara Askew
Inspector Jack Gale | Jan Kool
Sylvia Shaw | Gail Bishop
Vickie Martiny | Lucinda Banton
Doris Judd | Lauren Cudjoe
Directed by Peter Shore
Photography by Keith Orton
Review | October 2021 | Theo Spring
Playwright Amanda Whittington takes a fascinating angle on a story which many think is cut and dried – that of the admittance by Ruth Ellis of shooting her lover, David Blakely, and thereby entering the history books as the last women to be hanged in Britain.
Conjuring up three fictional characters to help delve deeper into her life, the author shows her belief that in Ellis’s life she encountered little early love and found what she took to be love from the men in her life, who certainly abused and controlled her. She loved them in spite of their physical and mental cruelty.
The play has many scenes and the set design by Steve Bishop was all set to change the scenes smoothly on the revolve stage. This, sadly, broke and a whole re-set had to be incorporated into the production which inevitably led to slower scene changes.
We first meet Ruth Ellis as she prepares, on her own it seemed, to go out and kill David Blakely, at whose hands she had suffered considerable physical injury. Lara Askew caught Ellis’s mix of vulnerability and bravado in a role that demanded a gamut of emotions ranging from her determination, her profession of love for Blakely and, at the end, her matter-of-fact approach to her death.
The three fictional character invented by the playwright are Sylvia Shaw, the Manageress of the London Gentleman’s Club where Ruth worked, Doris Judd who started work there as a char lady and Inspector Jack Gale whose remit, throughout the play, was to question Ellis’s professions of guilt, almost it would seem as if the character was asking many of the questions that should have been asked at the time and were not. Answers to some of these questions may well have saved Ruth Ellis from the hangman’s noose. The final character in the play is Vickie Martin, a real young lady, seeking stardom and fame and who, in the play, blagged her way into the Club and became Ruth’s friend.
A real hard nut with the proverbial soft centre, Gail Bishop’s Sylvia Shaw ran her Club with a rod of iron – always with an eye to making money and also far more aware of what was going on in Ruth and Vickie’s lives than they may realise. A difficult role very well realised.
The character for Lucinda Banton as Vickie was much more clear cut. Entirely self-centred, determined and happy to use others for her own ends, she was resolute about her aim to one day travel in a silver Rolls Royce. Sadly, in reality, she died in a car crash whilst still young. Cheeking her way into the playwright’s story, Lucinda Banton made her mark. In complete contrast to Vickie’s character, Doris Judd, so gently played by Lauren Cudjoe, truly cared for Ruth and, in the tale, changed her life’s ambitions to be there for her. Wishes for marriage and a family went out of the window as she stuck with Ruth, helping and comforting her after a miscarriage.
Amongst these strong female characters, Jan Kool as Inspector Gale brought doubt and questioning to the role. A sometimes shadowy figure at events – observing and noting, he also offered kindness and an understanding which Ruth had maybe not met before.
Songs played throughout the production were determined by the author and thus the apt and wonderfully delivered music and lyrics from Billie Holiday added to the story.
Sound – those precise and scary gunshots was by Vernon Culver; lighting – specially those posed paparazzi flash bulbs was designed by Niall Monaghan and highlighted poignant moments. The very era-centred wardrobe was put together by Berry Butler.
Dealing with a topic of such sensitivity was admirably achieved by director Peter Shore and to all those involved in the re-set due to the failure of the revolve – well done.