Brighton Fringe 2008
Low Down
Award-winning drama about the final moments of beautiful party girl, Ruth Ellis, famed for the unrepented murder of her lover and as the last woman in Britain to be hanged.
Review
The 5-star review given to this production at last year’s Brighton and Edinburgh Festivals remains accurate as the audience at the Komedia are shown a master class in performance. Beth Fitzgerald is captivating as Ruth Ellis, the wayward party girl convicted of murdering her lover and who will eventually become the last woman to be hanged in England . She gives such a complete depiction of this character, she moves between nervous mannerisms and moments of bluster and bravado, all totally believable. When Ellis’s desperation to live beneath all her talk is finally revealed, it’s devastating. Ross Gurney-Randall had the less demonstrative task in his portrayal of Arthur Pierrepoint. That said, he is equally skillful in giving glimpses of the anxiety at the heart of man who has devoted to his life to capital punishment to find that not only are times changing, but the moral absolutes on which he has depended have become uncertain. Rich, subtle and first-class all around.
