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micrummey's review against another edition
4.0
I saw this on stage a few years ago and after reading the play there were some clever stage directions I hadn't appreciated at the time, for example the use of stage lighting to mimic the irregular pattern of the six gun shots fired when Blakely was killed.
This tells the story of Ruth Ellis's time when she worked in London clubs during the 1950s told mainly through female characters. The only male character is with some irony is Jack Gale the detective investigating the murder. (Gail and Gale sounding the same)
Gale as a character as in part as a narrator and a sounding board for Ruth Ellis.
The Ruth Ellis story has been done many times in different art forms but none like this, as we the audience/reader never see an appearance of David Blakely. Throughout he is an unseen character.
The dialogue is sharp, concise and to the point with no long pieces of monologues.
A delight to read this play is one I would like to see again.
This tells the story of Ruth Ellis's time when she worked in London clubs during the 1950s told mainly through female characters. The only male character is with some irony is Jack Gale the detective investigating the murder. (Gail and Gale sounding the same)
Gale as a character as in part as a narrator and a sounding board for Ruth Ellis.
The Ruth Ellis story has been done many times in different art forms but none like this, as we the audience/reader never see an appearance of David Blakely. Throughout he is an unseen character.
The dialogue is sharp, concise and to the point with no long pieces of monologues.
A delight to read this play is one I would like to see again.
lnatal's review
3.0
From BBC Radio 4 - Drama:
Maxine Peake plays Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain.
Starring alongside a cast that includes Siobhan Finneran and Joe Armstrong, Amanda Whittington's hit stage transfer imagines the role played by the women close to Ruth during the months between Ruth's murder of her lover David Blakely and her subsequent death by hanging.
Framed with interviews and laced with the music of Billie Holiday, this is an intimate, evocative and thought provoking drama directed by Kate Chapman.
Writer Amanda Whittington
Director Kate Chapman
Producer Justine Potter
Executive Producer Melanie Harris
Sound Design by Eloise Whitmore
Music by Billie Holiday
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081jn4t
Maxine Peake plays Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain.
Starring alongside a cast that includes Siobhan Finneran and Joe Armstrong, Amanda Whittington's hit stage transfer imagines the role played by the women close to Ruth during the months between Ruth's murder of her lover David Blakely and her subsequent death by hanging.
Framed with interviews and laced with the music of Billie Holiday, this is an intimate, evocative and thought provoking drama directed by Kate Chapman.
Writer Amanda Whittington
Director Kate Chapman
Producer Justine Potter
Executive Producer Melanie Harris
Sound Design by Eloise Whitmore
Music by Billie Holiday
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081jn4t
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