a small and quiet light

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, an extraordinarily courageous woman who paid the ultimate price for her heroic fight against fascism.

Stephanie Street's play is premiered at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, and Orange Tree Theatre, London, in 2026.