The Thrill of Love

For the uninitiated, this was the true story [based in 1953] being the life history of Ruth Ellis who was the last woman to be hanged for murder in this country. She was totally consumed by her love for her abusive, unfaithful lover and made up her mind to murder him. The director did an excellent job on every front.

This was an exceptionally well directed and choreographed production. The staging was a simple box set, which for act 1 was set as a rather seedy drinking establishment with a table, some chairs and various other moveable objects and various paintings on the walls of nude females. In act two the pub had changed owner and moved considerably up market.  

This remarkable team of 4 ladies and 1 man performed an outstanding production  being word perfect from start to finish, showing great ability on every front, including some very amusing dancing and singing. KIM ASPELING as Ruth Ellis was outstanding.  She really shone as a performer, playing the difficult part of a women in turmoil before and after reaching the end of her tether. LEX LAKE as Silvia Shaw was the owner of the Pub. She bustled about the stage in a very realistic fashion leaving no doubt that she was in charge. Into her life came LUCY DRIVE as Vickie Martin, a rather flighty bit of goods looking for a job and a place to live. I loved her bit of song and dance. SARAH PAPOUIS as Doris completely stole my heart as the cleaner. I have seen her on stage a number of times and she has never let me down yet. Last but by not means least ROGER BUTLER as Jack Gale the policeman responsible for interviewing Ruth.  He was excellent, basically trying to get her off the charges despite her honesty. They were all outstanding.

All the costumes and makeup were excellent being very varied and exceedingly appropriate. Every word could be heard clearly and the sound effects were on time and the lighting was good, adding atmosphere to the individual scenes.  I thought their choice of songs was excellent with plenty of variety and the various routines were obviously well rehearsed and very watchable.

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