By Gary Murray
“No woman ever made history by following the rules”
Many of us are familiar with the story of the Battle of Britain in 1940 when the brave pilots of the RAF defended us from a feared German invasion.
And rightly so.
But Spitfire Girls, a new play running at the Devonshire Park Theatre this week, aims to highlight another, often overlooked tale.
It’s the story of the pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) who were responsible for delivering fighter and bomber aircraft to frontline squadrons, often in very dangerous circumstances.
Around ten per cent of ATA pilots were women and, unusually for the time, they received equal pay to their male counterparts.
But they still faced opposition from those who didn’t think that they could do the job and that a woman’s place was back home in the kitchen.
At first women were restricted to flying non-operational planes such as trainers, but it soon became clear that they certainly could do the job and make a vital contribution to the war effort.
Spitfire Girls, presented by Tilted Wig, the company who brought us Frankenstein last year, tells the story of two sisters, Bett and Dotty who, despite much opposition from their father, join the ATA and manage to get themselves posted to the same base, Hamble Ferry Pool.
The play opens on New Year’s Eve 1959 in Bett’s pub and moves between then and wartime.
The sisters, with two very different personalities, face danger and tension, loves and losses. Dotty thrives in this new world, while Bett is more conflicted and introspective.
In a beautifully depicted movement and dance sequence, we experience the exhilaration of take-off and soaring high above the clouds.
And we see the demands on them both to give this all up and resume their place back at home on the farm.
The play, inspired by true events, illuminates the tale of these pioneering women through subtle dialogue and performances, particularly from Laura Matthews as Dotty and Rosalind Steele as Bett.
Samuel Tracy as Tom, an RAF airman who is Dotty’s fiancé, Jack Hulland as their father, and Kirsty Cox as their commanding officer are also all excellent.
The cast is served well by the script from Katherine Senior. By turns both funny and poignant, it does justice to these brave pilots whose story deserves to be centre stage.
It’s underpinned by a poignant soundscape from Eamonn O’Dwyer. And there is simple but highly effective staging.
Spitfire Girls is powerful but entertaining. Go and see it if you can – highly recommended.
:: The play runs at the Devonshire Park Theatre until Saturday 19 April. Tickets can be bought here.
Main photo of Rosalind Steele and Laura Matthews: Robling Photography
:: The reviewer paid for their own ticket
