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Laura Matthews as Dotty and Katherine Senior as Bett Spitfire Girls Malvern Theatres **** ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few’ said a certain Winston Churchill. Most of us have heard about the ‘few’ – the fighter pilots who defended the capital and our nation against Hitler’s Luftwaffe in 1940. Few of us however have heard about the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) who were not flying in combat but who did so much to keep the RAF active and effective by flying planes between airfields, factories, maintenance units and frontline squadrons. Huge numbers of aircraft of different types were ferried around ‘without radio, with no flying instruction and at the mercy of the British weather’. This contribution by 168 women from 1940 until the end of the war and their courage is celebrated in this production. The focus is on two fictional characters, sisters, who, despite the opposition of their father who needs their service to keep his farm going, determine to volunteer. The play explores their very human emotions, their close but complex relationship and their humour, courage and tensions. Live theatre does not provide the dramatic imagery of flight which can be conveyed on film, but the excellent use of sound effects, lighting and choreography go a long way to making up for that. The set is very simple and bare, but the use of lighting and the simple movement of furniture and props are well used to convey changes in space and time. Fine choreography convey the exhilaration of taking to the air and the freedom of the skies. Bett, played alternately by the author Katherine Senior and Rosalind Steele, is the older sister. She is eventually a rather sad figure who in 1960 is running a pub but who in the war tries to mother her younger sister in a rather protective way. Dotty (Laura Matthews) is the freer character who takes greater risks and experiences greater traumas in her wartime experience. The sisters’ very human relationship, with its conflicts and its intimacy, are movingly portrayed. Jack Hulland plays both the girls’ father and the entertaining character of Frank in the pub in 1960. He is excellent in both roles. Samuel Tracy plays Tom, Dotty’s fiancé, and Jimmy – there remains some ambiguity about his relationship with Bett. Kirsty Cox plays the competent Commanding Officer and Joy. The breakdown of the relationship between the sisters after the war is not very clear, but the play has some very touching and moving scenes and some reflective moments regarding happiness and equalities. The play runs in Malvern until Saturday 24th May. Tim Crow 20-05-25 |
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