On Friday 20 May a play entitled ‘SOE’ was previewed at the Museum in front of 20 members of staff. The play has been written by playwright and actor Deborah Clair and focuses on the true story of the recruitment by Vera Atkins (Deborah Clair) of Noor Inayat Khan, played by Natasha Jayahendry, into the SOE. The last act sees Vera interrogating the Gestapo’s Josef Kieffer (Tim Marriott) at the end of the war as to the fate of Noor.
The Museum was delighted and privileged to host this preview, played with the Museum’s Lysander replica aircraft as a backdrop. Noor Inayat Khan was flown out of RAF Tangmere on the night of 16/17 June 1943 in a No 161 (SD) Lysander by pick-up pilot Bunny Rymills.
The 70-minute play was very well received by the audience and now goes on tour around southern England and London and ending with performances over 6 days in August at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Photo: Mike Bennett
