The critics have been to Richmond for a small and quiet light, Stephanie Street’s play about Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, the Special Operations Executive wireless operator sent into occupied France in 1943. Co-produced with Chichester Festival Theatre, where it played the Minerva in August, the production has now moved into the Orange Tree’s in-the-round space, directed by Elin Schofield with Priyanga Burford as Noor and Caoilfhionn Dunne as her Gestapo interrogator, Vogt. Burford’s performance is the one thing nearly everyone agrees on. Beyond that the notices pull in different directions: Theatre Weekly and Roviews find the story clearly told and strongly acted, and FringeReview calls it outstanding, while The Reviews Hub finds little tension in the interrogation scenes and The Arts Desk calls the whole thing too slender for its subject.
The verdict: ten reviews of the Orange Tree run so far. Nine carry a star rating: two four-star notices, six three-star and one two-star, an average of 3.1 out of 5, with FringeReview publishing no score. Almost every critic singles out Priyanga Burford’s Noor; what splits them is whether the time-hopping structure and the multi-rolling ensemble bring her story into focus or keep it at arm’s length.
What are critics saying about a small and quiet light?
Theatre Weekly
Reviewer: Nick Wayne
"At the centre of the play, of course, is Priyanga Burford as Noor-un-Nisa, a calm, quietly spoken heroine, fearless in the face of the risk of capture, torture and being shot, loyal and resolute towards her family and her adopted country, and naive and foolhardy in the pursuit of her mission. We see her worrying about her family, flirting with Pierre, chatting with a smile with her interrogator and calmly meeting her fate. As she says, “I’ve served my county that is my recompense”. She holds our attention especially in the final monologue when she directly addresses the audience about her death and the way the story is told."
Roviews
"A true story play about a female spy in France"
"Across its two parts, this is a clearly told and strongly acted production. The lead gives a compelling performance, supported by an ensemble who slip beautifully between their roles. The show is a moment of history less than 100 years ago, humanised with drama and reality. Really makes you think about what’s going on now too. Once again, the Orange Tree delivers. So I’ve spied this and let’s not make it a secret - The Orange Tree in Richmond has a great artistic director as the plays are a run of brilliant shows. Here’s to the next!"
The Reviews Hub
Reviewer: John Cutler
"Set designer Anna Yates sets the action in a square drain, recessed into a stage smeared with what might be blood, over a pastoral French countryside. Sound designer Tingying Dong adds the thump of heartbeats. The milieu signals threat, but try as she might, Elin Schofield finds little tension in the interrogation scenes. What should be a cat-and-mouse encirclement, with the threat of imminent death hanging over Noor, threatens to spiral into drawing-room badinage. “You are an exceptionally talented and gifted girl”, Vogt tells Noor, passing her tea and cigarettes. “You ask so nicely, Ernst, but I won’t answer,” she says. Street spent four years researching her subject, so perhaps the interrogation really was like this. It feels odd."
BroadwayWorld
Reviewer: Aliya Al-Hassan
"This disconnect is enhanced by the multi-roling in the all-female cast. Actors play up to four roles each, some of whom could have been left out entirely, without impacting the story. Priyanga Burford (who is also consultant producer) is on stage throughout as Khan. She portrays an unassuming young girl, quiet and wildly intelligent, with what must have been a steely bravery beneath. We learn of her strong moral compass and her loyalty to Britain, along with her love for her family and desire to contribute to the war effort. Her vehement dismissal of her brother's suggestion that she become a nurse is a tantilising hint at some fire under the calm veneer, but this is never expanded upon."
Theatrecat
Reviewer: Libby Purves
"Street (and director Elin Schofield) chip the story into different time frames, moving rapidly between them, dates flashed overhead. Sometimes we are in 1943 Paris, with Caoilfhionn Dunne (very impressive throughout) as Vogt, the Gestapo interrogator struggling between his duty to get information and , interestingly written and depicted, a rigid old-fashioned German decency. Sometimes we are back in Noor’s childhood, with her devout, philosophical Sufi father; sometimes in her young adulthood in Paris, with a boyfriend and first job; sometimes at sea on the way to England, determined to “do something” in the terrible rising war, something more risky and brave than nursing. Her father’s philosophy of truth and cosmic unity is still strong in her. Sometimes we see her in training, and briefly at work, having to trust confreres as she rolls out her aerial, her pianist’s fingers tapping rapid morse."
LondonTheatre1
Reviewer: John Groves
"Somewhere here there is a very moving and essential story to be told, but Street’s episodic writing plus Elin Schofield’s direction, which lacks energy, conspire to smother the message. Luckily, it is being staged at the intimate Orange Tree, so it has more impact than it might have had in a larger theatre."
Plays International
Reviewer: Maryam Philpott
"Burford’s portrayal of Khan is highly layered and enjoyable, capturing the different stages of her life from her childhood in the 1920s through training, operation, and capture, building a remarkably warm rapport with everyone she meets. Throughout, there is a steely sense of duty, unwavering regardless of any personal danger and dedicated to fulfilling her mission. A role designed around her, Burford’s performance is the lynchpin of the show."
London Living Large
Reviewer: J.C.
"Unfortunately, A Small and Quiet Light sticks too closely to the biography, becoming more a recounting of Inayat Khan's life than a drama with a clear focus beyond celebrating the achievements of its protagonist. The cast do a fine job of inhabiting a succession of characters, but too few are developed sufficiently to make them truly interesting."
The Arts Desk
"disappointingly superficial and slender"
Reviewer: Aleks Sierz
"As it is, this co-production with the Chichester Festival Theatre, where it opened in August, is rather theatre-lite. The main actors, Priyanga Burford as Noor and Caoilfhionn Dunne as Vogt, do a good job, especially Burford’s bravura performance. The rest play the other 14 or so roles: Kiah Arya, Léa Des Garets, Amanda Hadingue, Tripti Tripuraneni and Paksie Vernon. Their diversity gives a sting to some of the racist comments of the time, and they successfully bring out the gentleness of Noor’s upbringing. At the end, there’s a bit of meta-theatre which fiercely stresses the horrible brutality of her death. But then, the show, in keeping with its small and quiet title, draws back into sentimentality. Disappointing."
FringeReview
Reviewer: Simon Jenner
"There’s a slow-burn radiance in Burford’s performance. A mix of faux-coyness, playfulness and joy contrast with Noor’s fierce, even harrowing sense of what she’s elected to do. “The current lifespan of an operator is six weeks. That’s the most we can hope for your time out there.” A Sufi Muslim princess, daughter of a religious leader, of Indian and Russian heritage, Sorbonne-educated: Noor seemed predestined to become a writer, publishing mainly children’s stories. Burford unwraps Noor’s character through encounters with others: at her most adamantine, transparent yet unyielding, with Dunne’s Vogt."
Production photographs by Marc Brenner.
For more of this week’s verdicts, read our roundups of The Standard of Living at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Tru at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
a small and quiet light runs at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond until 24 October 2026.
