Spitfire Girls lands at Chipping Norton Theatre from 14 to 17 May as part of a major UK theatre tour in Spring 2025.
This new play by Katherine Senior marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and has been developed with support from the National Theatre Generate Programme.
Directed by Seán Aydon with design by Sarah Beaton, Spitfire Girls will play 11 venues around the country.
“It’s built for us, isn’t it? The Spitfire. Built for women.”
New Year’s Eve, 1959.
Decades after answering the call, two women separated by the war meet again as the rain hammers down on the windows of The Spitfire pub. As we hear their story, we’re transported back to a time when female pioneers defied expectations and soared through the skies.
Spitfire Girls is inspired by the extraordinary true stories of the women who dared to fly during WWII and the incredible bond that tied them together. Funny and heart-warming, this is an untold story of strength, courage and loss. But above all else, hope.
Recommended age 10+.
The production will have lighting by Peter Small and original music composed by Eamonn O’Dwyer. The playtext of Spitfire Girls will be published by Concord Theatricals for their Samuel French Imprint and available to purchase from March 2025.
Laura Matthews (One Man, Two Guvnors and London Assurance (National Theatre), Pride (Proud Films) will play ‘Dotty’ and Katherine Senior (The Rivals, Look Back in Anger, Travels with my Aunt all UK Tours) and Rosalind Steele (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (West End), The Provoked Wife and Venice Preserved (Royal Shakespeare Company); Shakespeare in Love (Bath Theatre Royal and Tour) will share the role of ‘Bett’.
The cast will also feature Kirsty Cox (Our Church (The Watermill Theatre), The Odyssey and Medusa (Bristol Old Vic), as ‘Joy’, Jack Hulland (Travels With My Aunt, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Look Back in Anger (Creative Cow/UK Tours), The Adventures of a Bear called Paddington (Upstage Productions/UK Tour), as ‘Dad/Frank’ and Samuel Tracy (LIVES (Lowry Theatre) The Gruffalo’s Child (West End/National Tour), Billy Goats Gruff (Unicorn Theatre) as ‘Tom/Jimmy’.
This tour has outreach support from Arts Council England.
