Follow Me, Komedia, Brighton, until May 21

2:57pm Tuesday 20th May 2008

Set in 1955, Follow Me tells the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, and Albert Pierrepoint, her notorious hangman. Ellis murdered her unfaithful lover, shooting him five times.

Pierrepoint is acutely aware of the moral dimensions of his work throughout, and keen to see its rules observed to the letter. It is from these rules that the play's staging is deftly contrived.

In reality, the hangman will not meet his charge until the final moments, and so Ellis and Pierrepoint recount their stories separately in ever-shortening monologues.

In the absence of sparring partners, questions and demands are volleyed out from the stage at imagined warders, lawyers and friends amongst the audience.

Beth Fitzgerald plays the unrepentant Ellis with an abrasive and morbid humour, but carefully lets her stoicism falter throughout.

Ross Gurney-Randall is excellent as the composed, workmanlike exe-cutioner, steeled to his task. Her accounts of the crime are counterpointed by his detailing of the impending process, but soon their concerns are drawn together outside the prison walls.

A protesting crowd can be heard, forcing Pierrepoint to question his resolve and his work, and Ellis to dwell on everything she has to lose. Both spiral down into disarray.

As quickly as it is reeled out, the action is sucked back inside the prison and builds to a frightening, claustrophobic climax, followed by total darkness.

This tremendous play carefully juxtaposes the strange intricacies of capital punishment with its great controversy, boasting wonderfully taut direction and captivating performances.

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