The Thrill of Love

A dramatization of the true-life story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Taking a fresh look at the story behind the headlines and the societal prejudices of the time.

A divorcee from a poverty-stricken, abusive childhood and with a young child to care for, Ruth Ellis works in the kind of London nightclubs where there’s more than just a drink on offer. The girls work hard, play hard and dream of a movie-star life to escape the grey, drab streets of post-war London. It is there that Ruth meets the wealthy, womanising David, a racing driver with whom she becomes obsessed. Fame ensues but not in the way she imagines.

Telling the story over a series of flashback scenes in Ruth’s life this play covers her life as a nightclub ‘hostess’ in Soho, her toxic love affair with David Blakely and the events leading up to her trial and execution on 13th July 1955 (at the age of 28).