Guest Blog: 'Misogyny Played a Key Part in Determining Her Fate': Writer Caroline Slocock on Bringing the Story of Ruth Ellis to The Stage in RUTH at Wilton's Music Hall

Ruth Ellis was a nightclub hostess who shot and killed her violent upper class lover after a long abusive relationship.  She was executed for the crime in 1955, making her the last woman to be hanged in England. 

It’s hard to explain what compelled me to write a musical about her life and tragic death.  I was sitting one day, about 15 years ago, thinking about ideas for a show and suddenly Ruth Ellis landed in my imagination like a thunderbolt.  I decided there and then that I had to investigate her story, which to this day remains a stain on the national conscience.  

Her life has been covered before in film and TV, but what I wanted to explore was the additional layer of emotional storytelling that musical theatre can bring.  From the point of view of a dramatist, all the ingredients are there.  Ruth’s life was operatic, encompassing as it did all the big themes - love, death, jealousy, obsession, injustice. I felt it would make a compelling subject for a musical.

We like to think of RUTH as a British ’noir’ musical. So many elements of the story lend themselves to the stark, shadowy style of that genre. There is the blonde femme fatale with the gun, the violent lover, the courthouse drama, the jail and the execution. 

I want to emphasise though that RUTH is not going to be two hours of doom and gloom!  There’s light and shade, jazzy nightclub songs, lively ensemble numbers, soulful ballads, humorous moments too. While remaining true to the facts of her story, we have introduced one imaginary encounter that brings a new twist to the tale.

Her tragedy resonates powerfully in the era of #MeToo, with misogyny playing such a key part in determining her fate.  She was judged not just for her crime but for her working class origins, her profession as a nightclub hostess and for being a single mother at a time when women were supposed to be dutiful wives. 

There are also the important legal aspects of the affair; the fact that the plea of diminished responsibility was introduced two years after Ruth’s death, partly in response to her case. The huge public outcry following her execution also fuelled the launch of the abolitionist movement which led to the end of the death penalty in the UK. Despite that, the Ruth Ellis case still lingers as an unresolved miscarriage of justice. 

I am delighted to be bringing RUTH to the stage at a time when her family are campaigning for a conditional pardon, with the decision at this very moment being considered by the Ministry of Justice. There is no doubt that, had the crime occurred in the present day, the outcome would have been very different. One only has to look at the case of Sally Challen to see that crimes related to domestic and sexual abuse are now viewed through a lens of deeper psychological understanding.  Following Sally’s release from jail the concept of coercive control became legally recognised.

Ruth did commit a terrible crime and yet I find it easy to empathise with her.  She had a very rough life, abused by one man after another. Her affair with David Blakely was violent and destructive and when it spiralled out of control she was driven to murder.  

I would like people who come to the show to walk in Ruth’s shoes for a couple of hours, live her life, and then decide for themselves if they agree she deserves a conditional pardon. I certainly do.

RUTH runs at Wilton's Music Hall from 18-28 March