THE THRILL of Love at Leamington’s Loft Theatre tells the tale of the last woman to be sent to the gallows in Britain.
Amanda Whittington’s dramatization of Ruth Ellis’ life and the events leading up to the murder of her lover David Blakely and her hanging in 1955, can be seen from July 17 to 27.
In a cloud of smog, the audience is whisked away to the often seedy London gentlemen’s clubs of the 1950s. Whisky, soul music, Camera Club and bullet bras are all the fashion. Women dream of being the next Marilyn Munroe and will do almost anything to follow in her footsteps. It is in this world of false glamour and heavy drinking that Ruth Ellis lived and loved. But what eventually drove her to the end of her tether and the decision to kill Blakely? Also, who gave her the gun she used to shoot him?
Julia Findlay takes on the role of Ellis, with Mark Roberts as police inspector Jack Gale, a man determined to uncover the truth of what eventually led her to the hangman’s noose.
Director Elizabeth Morris said: “From the moment I started to read this play I knew that it was something special and am delighted to have been given the opportunity to bring Ellis’ tragic story to the stage of the Loft.”
Visit www.lofttheatrecompany.com for tickets and further details.
