Azma Dar’s fascinating historical past play Noor shines a a lot deserved highlight on an undersung battle hero at Southwark Playhouse
“I come from so many places but don’t belong to any of them”
As Remembrance Sunday wheels round once more, it appears unimaginable {that a} story like that of Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan’s can stay so underserved and largely unheralded. As a specific fan of tales about girls in WWII, I indict my very own negligence right here too however luckily, author Azma Dar and Kali Theatre are readily available with this extremely atmospheric manufacturing of Noor.
Born to an Indian Muslim household with royal connections and introduced up in an itinerant life-style throughout Europe, her research on the Sorbonne led to composing music, writing poems and kids’s tales however as battle broke out, she enlisted as a wi-fi operator and spy, regardless of being warned that common life expectancy for these performing these missions was simply 6 weeks.
Dar builds her biodrama round a framing system of higher-ups making an attempt to work out what has occurred to Noor since she misplaced contact with them however as Noor herself enters the dialog, her personal mode of storytelling comes into play, her Sufi heritage and innate pacifism shaping her actions inimitably and offering a bit respite from the dread-filled progress of Noor’s life undercover and the inevitabality of what’s to come back.
Poonam Brah’s course is evocative and characterful, utilising Nancy Kettle’s motion and the canniness of Helen Coyston’s traverse stage design to conjure a beguiling fluidity all through. There are moments when the script appears too dense, conveying a lot data and bearing on big themes and maybe predictably, they’re not all explored in as a lot depth as one may want for. But Annice Boparai leads the solid with aplomb as Noor, supported by beautiful work from Caroline Faber as her mentor, coping with the complexity of her personal scenario in addition to the guilt too not often seen from senior officers.