Ruth Ellis (1926-1955) was the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Albert Pierrepoint (1905-1992) was the executioner. Follow Me describes the circumstances in which the two meet for the first and only time.

In 1955, Britain was on the cusp of the modern world. The war had ended, but the country was still in the grip of rationing. Economic recovery was just over the horizon and this was still a world where films, plays and books could be banned; popular music consisted of ballads and the contraceptive pill was yet to be invented. It was essentially a middle-aged world, one into which young women like Ruth Ellis just didn't fit. Probably, she could have saved herself from the death penalty. When she said at her trial that she intended to kill her victim and lover, David Blakely, she knew that this would condemn her to death.

Beth Fitzgerald is hugely accomplished as the 28-year-old Ruth Ellis, showing her taut, nervous personality whose brief life is marked by impulsive, twitchy decisions - many of which she regrets. She is both vulnerable and passionate, impatient with life, wanting it all and wanting it now.

Albert Pierrepoint, the executioner, is determined to do things with decorum. He is a pub landlord, fond of a cigar, keen to do things the right way and his repeated insistence is that his job is to kill, but not to hurt or humiliate. (Unwillingly, throughout this production, the mind may back to the execution of Saddam Hussein (1937-2006), with its terrible lack of dignity and sensitivity.) For Pierrepoint, an execution is a ritual performance in which strength of character will be revealed. He is played sympathetically by Ross Gurney-Randall as a lugubrious but slightly troubled man, whose focus on detail has allowed him to live with the fact that he has killed 605 people. Is he addicted to the task, or just a man doing a job?

Director Guy Masterson allows tension to ratchet up slowly to the inevitable end, as footsteps and the banging of doors in the Holloway Prison corridors assume mountainous significance. The ultimate irony is that there are two killers on the stage, but only one does it for money.

This is an excellent, spare production, with two great performances to illuminate it, and a chilling reminder of the reality of capital punishment.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): Beth Fitzgerald - Ruth Ellis. Albert Pierrepoint - Ross Gurney-Randall.

Company Credits: Writer - Dave Mountfield & Ross Gurney-Randall. Director - Guy Masterson. Technical Operator - uncredited. Press - Sheridan Humphreys, Sheridan's Kitchen PR. Producer - uncredited. Company - Riverside Studios & Theatre Tours International .

END

(c) Michael Spring 2009

reviewed Wednesday 21 Jan 2009 / Riverside Studios, London

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

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