Spitfire Girls

Spitfire Girls description

Spitfire Girls is a new play about the women who flew aircraft for Britain during the Second World War, and the friendship that held them together.

The play opens on New Year's Eve in 1959. As rain beats against the windows of a pub called The Spitfire, two women who were parted by the war come face to face again, decades after they first answered the call to serve. Through their memories, the story moves back to the war years, when a group of female pilots took to the air and challenged what was expected of women at the time. The play is inspired by the real experiences of the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary, the civilian service that ferried military aircraft around the country during the war.

Developed at the National Theatre Studio as part of its Generate programme, Spitfire Girls toured the UK in 2025 and 2026 before this run, which marks its London debut. The production mixes humour and emotion with a little-known chapter of wartime history. Reviewers of the touring production called it "an almost flawless production" (Northern Arts Review), "soaring with emotional depth" (Theatre & Tonic) and "a beautiful, well-crafted story of bravery" (StageSide UK).

The play is written by Katherine Senior, a writer, actor and producer with twenty years of experience creating and touring theatre around the UK. Spitfire Girls is her first play, and in 2024 she was long-listed for the Women in Theatre Lab Playwriting Prize. She co-founded Tilted Wig Productions, which produces the show in association with Park Theatre. The director is Seán Aydon, artistic director of Tilted Wig, whose productions for the company include national tours of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The School for Scandal and Frankenstein. His production of Richard III at the Rosemary Branch earned him a Best Director nomination at The Stage Debut Awards. Set design is by Sarah Beaton, winner of the Linbury Prize for Stage Design.

Katherine Senior also performs in the play as Bett, with Hannah Morrison as Dotty. Morrison's credits include Plaza Suite at the Savoy Theatre and the television series Industry and Doctors. The company is completed by Kirsty Cox, who appeared in both previous tours of the play, Paul Brown, who made his West End debut in Mischief's Groan Ups at the Vaudeville Theatre, and Daniel Copeland, whose screen work includes The Larkins and After Life.

Book tickets for Spitfire Girls at Park Theatre and discover a moving story of courage and friendship from the Second World War.

Playing at Park Theatre

Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London, N4 3JP GB (venue info)

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