Sample: The Woman and the Car

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This piece is set in the early 1900’s and based on historical figures although no claims can be made for the accuracy of the events depicted. Dorothy Levitt’s achievements are very real. In an age when women could not vote, have bank accounts and where generally believed to be the “weaker sex,” she was daring, independent and refused to live by any rules but her own. She was the world’s premier female motorist and “botorist”  – “The fastest girl on Earth.”
The play deals with the break up of her business and personal partnership – real enough – with Selwyn Edge, an entrepreneur, award winning cyclist and married, Edwardian man. Edge represented the Napier company, a sponsor to Levitt, who provided her with many of the cars and boats that enabled her success. She wrote a book, specifically for women, from which the play takes its title.
In an age where women most certainly could not have it all, Dorothy chose to live as she pleased and hang the consequences. The only constant in her short life was another female adventurer and motorist, Isabel Savory. Isabel had her own demons to slay – sometimes literally – but, like Dorothy, could only live the way she saw fit.
Two strong and physically brave women did not fit well with the Victorian/Edwardian narrative. In this piece, they are looking only for the same treatment that men allow themselves. It is difficult, if not ultimately impossible yet they persist. They truly were women born before their time.

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