Review: Spitfire Girls at Buxton Opera House

“…a celebration of strength in adversity, pulling together, and of heroism…”

Spitfire Girls by Katherine Senior, Buxton Opera House

By Phil Scown

The set is minimalist. A black backdrop. A stage upon the stage, on which an RAF roundel is painted, though only really visible from above, not so much in the stalls. There is smoke, suggesting times past. A drone of aircraft is only just audible.

Props are brought on as the set is dressed with a table, a bar, and a Christmas tree. Hung across the bar on string, is a “Welcome to 1960”. It’s New Year’s Eve in The Spitfire. Bett, the landlady ( Katherine Senior) is having a quiet drink on her own. Her thoughts are interrupted by someone knocking at the door. It’s Frank (Jack Hulland) who wants to come in out of the rain. This is Bett’s life now, dealing with drunk and hopeless customers. Bett throws him out, only for her peace to be disturbed by someone else knocking at the door – a woman. They argue and they reminisce. 

We are transported back to the farmhouse home of Bett and Dotty. It’s 1943, Bett and Dotty volunteer for the ATA, Air Transport Auxiliary. They want to be Spitfire Girls, women who will fly planes around the country, delivering them to where they are needed. Their father (Jack Hulland) is not pleased. Played as a martinet, he resists their attempts to sign up and demands they stay at home. They defy him, as they have to if they are to become the Spitfire Girls. 

They train, they fly. Starting with Sopwith Camels, they progress to Spitfires, the younger Dotty getting there first. On the airbase there is romance involving airman Tom (Paul Brown). This is a story of men and women at war, but mostly about the women. Inevitably there is tragedy, and loss. The pit of despair counters the absolute joy and freedom that flying gives ‘the Girls’. They are away from the farm, they are living. 

Katherine Senior has written a play with a nostalgic theme, a little told story of World War II. A lesser writer would have made heavy work of exposition about war. In Spitfire Girls the audience is spared this. Training is well done and engaging. Skipping exposition does mean that some things fall through the gaps. The audience has to work out who the mystery woman is at the start of the play and in other parts of the play we have to work out the details of important pictures for ourselves, which some might find distracting from the story.

The cast all work well together. Katherine Senior is convincing as both an older, alcoholic, publican, and as her younger self, always the older sister to Dotty. Hannah Morrison plays that younger sister Dotty, more confident and pushy than Bett. There is youthful enthusiasm, but not as a caricature. Jack Hulland is Frank, a wastrel customer of The Spitfire in 1959-60. He is also the wartime father, a martinet. These are different characters, and demonstrate versatility. It is easy to see Frank as a sympathetic character, and be annoyed at the controlling father. Paul Brown holds the roles of Tom and Jimmy; though minor roles, they are key to the story. Kirsty Cox is good as the C.O. who looks after the welfare of her ‘girls’, but who also has authority. Cox also provides the supporting role of Joy, necessary for the atmosphere of the lead characters’ social life.

Sound (Eamonn O’Dwyer and Joseph Harris) do a good job of adding atmosphere.  In a play where war is a theme it would be easy to overdo the sounds of war. During the flying scenes there is aircraft noise, but never too much. The choice of music adds further to the atmosphere.

Anyone expecting lots of nostalgic action about life in the ATA and the flying of warplanes is going to be a little disappointed. While it is an important aspect of the play, it is not what the story is about.  The core of Spitfire Girls is the relationship between sisters Bett and Dotty. This is a play relying on the dialogue and interplay between these two. We see them interact with each other, and we also see their internal struggles, decisions to be made, resentments, jealousies and regrets. It’s a story of siblings, of growing up, making mistakes, and of guilt. 

Though set in the middle of the twentieth century, with the inevitable nostalgia that brings, there are themes that carry through to today. Spitfire Girls had to overcome the assumptions, of both men and women, that they would not be able to do the job. Even when they prove themselves more than capable of difficult tasks, the powers that be will still try to deny their freedom. There is the tragedy of war, present then as it is today. Grief and emotional damage endure long after the peace treaties have been signed and the ink has dried. 

There are certainly moments of laughter and euphoria, but ultimately this is not a feel-good play. A wartime setting makes that difficult. Spitfire Girls is a celebration of strength in adversity, pulling together, and of heroism of the common man and woman, leading to hope and joy. But heroism has its dark side too. Spitfire Girls has a twist, one that intrigues, causing the audience to replay events. There are layers that are only revealed by reflection. I’m still enjoying this play, long after the final curtain has dropped, like a good book after the last page has turned, or an engaging film when the final credits have rolled.

Spitfire Girls plays at Buxton Opera House until Saturday 21 March. Tickets are available here.

Phil Scown has been a regular theatre-goer since his student days many years ago. Mysteries, thrillers, ghost stories, comedies and musicals are all part of his theatre diet. Phil writes short stories in a variety of genres, some of which have become screenplays. He likes to tour England, Scotland and France, nowadays by car rather than motorcycle. At other times Phil likes to cook and to drive his Caterham, though generally not at the same time.