Autumn 1940. The Battle of Britain rages.

Southampton is home to our only hope of victory: the Spitfire. But, in one of many devastating raids on the town, the Luftwaffe destroy the Woolston Supermarine Spitfire factory. The Government requisitions local businesses to use as shadow factories – but meets resistance. Fred Dimmock won’t give up his family laundry for anyone.

As the Dimmocks, and other families, struggle to keep control of their lives and livelihoods, a story of chaos, courage and community spirit emerges.

Telling the remarkable story of how a city triumphed over adversity, Howard Brenton's play The Shadow Factory opened Southampton’s brand-new theatre, NST City, in 2018, directed by Nuffield Southampton Theatres’ Director Samuel Hodges.

'A bolshy drama… unearths a fascinating piece of local history' — Guardian

'Ambitious and absorbing... mixes the intimate with the panoramic' — The Times

'Brenton is a master of portraying major historical episodes on an individual human scale... it’s valuable that a play like this exists' — Financial Times