a small and quiet light

About the show

October 1943. In a small office on the Avenue Foch in Paris, a Gestapo interrogator is questioning a young woman who has been known by many different names: Babuli, Jeanne-Marie, Nora, Madeleine.

As one of the secret agents of Britain’s Special Operations Executive – and the first female radio operator to be sent undercover into France – she has evaded capture far longer than most. But now she has been betrayed.

As she faces the fate she has dreaded so long, memories crowd in – a beloved father, a thwarted lover, a gruelling journey to war, and an endless longing for her childhood piano. What has led her here?

a small and quiet light is based on the life of Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan (1914-1944), an extraordinarily courageous woman who paid the ultimate price for her heroic fight against fascism.

Stephanie Street’s plays include The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Sisters; as an actor, her Chichester credits include Our Generation and Quiz.

Priyanga Burford (The Vortex CFT, An Enemy of the People West End – Olivier nomination, Steeltown Murders) plays Noor.

Diyan Zora, who previously directed Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles? at CFT and, more recently, Roots (Almeida) and English (RSC, Olivier Award nomination) co-directs with Elin Schofield, whose work includes Scissors at Sheffield Theatre for which she won the UK Theatre Award for Best Director.