The car… symbol of glamour, sex, independence, individuality.

The car… oil-guzzler, mark of suburban conformity, the cause of hundreds of thousands of deaths.

A Chronicle of the American Automobile is an epic tale about the lives of a fictional American family fatefully caught up in the rise and fall of the car industry.

From the birth of mass production of the Model T Ford to the collapse of the automotive industry in 2008, someone from the Mayhew family was there. The story begins with reactionary Methodist patriarch William Mayhew Snr in Highland Park, Detroit, and culminates with his lesbian great-granddaughter Claire, a successful barrister in London, England.

Secrets buried in one generation surface in the next. Opposing values force siblings apart. Family needs reconcile them again.

A Chronicle of the American Automobile takes you on a kaleidoscopic journey through the twentieth century. We bring you talking horses, terrifying crash test experiments, the whirl of petticoats, heartbreak, evangelical country rock, jokes about Bob Dylan, a factory line-produced Barbara Castle, psychedelia, shoulder pads and screens broadcasting rolling news of innermost feelings and fantasies.

We’ve workshopped part of this project with actors and co-written a full-length script. We were awarded a writing residence at Dartington Arts in 2012 to do further work on the script. We’ve also explored scenography and staging ideas with theatre students at Rose Bruford University. To bring Chronicle to fruition, Wishbone are actively seeking partners both in the theatre world and in business who can help us to make it happen. Contact us to find out how you could get involved. Getting involved with wishbone