Ruth – the Musical is so very nearly a five star hit that I actually grieve for what this production could have been. Still, there’s plenty to keep any audience member entertained, and I even had a tear in my eye at the end. But it didn’t get the standing ovation it deserved. I’ll tell you why I think that was.
The show tells the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged.
In her cell in Holloway Prison she recounts the story of how she got there to a visiting stranger, of how she was a nightclub hostess who got into an abusive and co-dependent relationship with a posh, but feckless racing car driver who strung her along. And of how she ended up shooting him with the gun her ‘sugar daddy’ had provided, and was tried and convicted of murder.
The costumes are excellent, the projections are some of the best I’ve seen anywhere, and the cast of eleven provide a versatile and convincing ensemble where needed.
But for me there are three very real issues with the show.
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The book.
Though literate, the book doesn’t have the superstructure in place for it to function as the book of a musical.
Three very talented women share the titular role, Bibi Simpson – who’s on stage virtually the whole time in her prison cell – Me-Li Yap, as Ruth as a child, and Hannah Traylen playing Ruth in the past as an adult. Consequently I don’t know where my emotional capital ought to be invested, and because of that the story becomes more about the only person I actually cared about, Albert Pierrepoint, the hangman who will eventually carry out the execution, played with beautiful detail by Ian Puleston-Davies. His emotional journey from certainty to questioning the very reason for him being there is a masterclass.
And… you can’t keep secrets from your audience. Withholding the information that Ellis was driven to the murder scene by ‘the other man’, who also provided the weapon she uses, is a hugely missed opportunity for dramatic tension.
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The lyrics are very uneven. There are very obviously two lyricists at work, one who knows how to write good musical theatre lyrics, and the other who doesn’t. Get the one who knows how to rewrite the rest…
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The score doesn’t function as well as it should, largely because of items 1 and 2 above. But there are some very obvious missteps. There’s too much ‘filler’ in the club in Act One, and though there are a couple of stand-out numbers – I’d single out the chorus number at the racetrack which showcases what the creative team are capable of – Act Two is so much better, but still flawed.
The scene where the girls from the club ‘take over’ the court and point out the hypocrisy of the men present is funny, but jars as the rules aren’t set up in Act One that characters can act as narrators, commenting on what’s happening, rather than being active participants in it. That being said, overall the music is excellent and I had that gorgeous minor-key earworm rattling through my brain the whole of the way home.
I don’t know what the future will hold for Ruth. I hope the creative team take these comments in the spirit in which they’re intended. I think there’s a great show, an important show, just waiting to burst out. It’s just not quite there yet.
Director: Andy Moran & Denise Silvey
Book: Caroline Slocock
Music: John Cameron, Francis Rockliff, & James Reader
Lyrics: Caroline Slocock & John Cameron
Cast includes: Hannah Traylon, Bibi Simpson, Ian Puleston-Davies, Connor Payne, John Faal, Paddy Duff, Freddy Williams, Garth Bardsley, Sarah Lawn, Alice Redmond, Me-Li Yap
Until 28th March 2026
Running time: 2hrs including 1 x 15 minute interval
Photo Credit: Charlie Flint Photography