IT’S not very often that you get to see the world premiere of a play in a dockers’ social club, but that is the magic of the Leith Festival which is currently drawing the crowds to the ancient port.

Leith Dockers Club will host the first stage production of a play called Dazzle by Alan Mountford over the next three days. It’s an unusual love story featuring Scottish artist Eva Harriet Mackenzie and is partly inspired by her wartime ambulance driver’s cap. Dazzle is part of the ground-breaking Citadel Arts Group’s double bill of Stories of the Sea which it is presenting at the festival, with both productions exploring Leith’s maritime heritage Retired engineer Mountford has been developing the play for many months after uncovering a forgotten story which has been neglected over the decades.

The heroine is Eva Harriet Mackenzie, from North Berwick, who studied at Edinburgh School of Art as it was then called before the outbreak of world war.

During the war she travelled to Belgium to drive ambulances and on her return she was hired to work in the Dazzle design department at the Royal Academy in London.

Dazzle was a process of painting bright patterns onto the sides of British merchant ships and some Royal Navy vessels to confuse German U-boats.

This process was invented by marine artist Norman Wilkinson. A bachelor in his 40s, young Eva caught his eye and they married soon after the end of the war.

A spokesperson for Citadel said: “It’s a story of courage and love and we think it deserves to be told — especially as Eva scarcely gets a mention in the history books or even her own husband’s autobiography.

“Yet she went on to have a career as an artist and her flower paintings are in the Royal Academy.

“Her descendants are delighted we’re presenting a dramatic version of her story and have provided letters and memorabilia including the cap she wore to drive her ambulance.

“They’re coming to the opening night. We hope they approve of the picture we’ve drawn of Eva Harriet Mackenzie.”

Mountford said: “As I continued to develop the play, I realised I wanted the local girl Eva to become more and more central to the story, but I knew very little about her.

“I decided to take a big leap and contact her family. I felt very nervous about this and didn’t even expect a reply. What happened next was incredible.

“The family told me that Eva had been an ambulance driver in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry during World War One before becoming part of the Dazzle team. ‘Wow,’ I thought, I didn’t know women had done that!

“Then it got even better. Eva’s grand-daughter, Sarah Phillips, told me she had loads of letters written by Eva during World War One and that she would send copies of them to me. A large parcel arrived and when I opened it, there were the letters and Eva’s actual First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Cap, with her name label stitched inside.”

Mountford added: “As a writer I have to make connections with objects and locations. Having this cap in front of me as I wrote was exactly what I needed. This together with the letters made Eva very real to me.

“I’ve also been to the various local addresses mentioned in her letters. This all may seem strange to a non-writer, but for me, I find it gives the writing that little bit extra.

“I hope the audience will enjoy this play as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I don’t want to spoil it for you by telling you any more factual details, but I will tell you this: it has a fairytale ending, and amazingly enough, it’s a true ending. Sometimes a young girl’s dreams really do come true.”

The performances during the Leith Festival are tomorrow at 7.30pm, Wednesday at 2.30pm and Thursday at 7.30pm and the venue is at 17 Academy Street, Leith. Tickets priced £8, with £6 for concessions.