This British World War II agent was a code-breaker and a spy. This agent would fight the Nazis any way they could. It meant parachuting into Paris. It meant going it alone. This agent would be betrayed to the Germans, arrested, interrogated and miraculously escape only to be captured again. This agent was classified as “highly dangerous” and, this time, the Nazi’s took no chances. The person who would become Britain’s first Muslim war hero was beaten and executed. Their dying word was “liberté”. A statue now stands in their honour in London’s Gordon Square Gardens.
Her name was Noor Inayat Khan; Codename: Madeleine.
Now the incredible story of Agent Madeleine has been developed into a new play by director and playwright Chelsea MacKay. Her deep love of history and telling stories too radical or marginalized to make it into the books is what drew her into Noor’s life, one where every new fact is more unbelievable than the last.
Agent Madeleine’s story was the perfect one to inaugurate MacKay’s Rainy Heart Productions, a theatre group whose mandate is to bring shows nobody else is doing to Ottawa, ones that embrace not only diversity, but also showcase the metaphysical style you can only get in theatre.
MacKay first discovered Noor on the blog rejectedprincesses.com. This was not a place for your typical doe-eyed Disney damsel in distress. If there were pages to turn, the story of Noor’s heroism would have been a page turner for MacKay who was instantly captivated and couldn’t stop scrolling. What she read would linger and she couldn’t let go of the idea that more people needed to know about this woman.
“It stayed with me, and I immediately started thinking about how it would translate to my preferred medium of theatre,” says MacKay. “That kicked off three years of research, writing, workshopping, and general obsession with Noor and her story.”
That obsession became a lot of work. MacKay would track down sources when she could find the time, grateful she had thee published work of one of Noor’s journalist friends for accuracy. She’d also obtain text directly from the Imperial War Museum in London and hunt through stacks here in Canada to find any kernels of information she didn’t already have.
“It opened my eyes to so much history I hadn’t known, hadn’t even known to look for. There are so many stories that are quickly disappearing as books are removed from print and the last survivors of the Second World War pass on,” says McKay, adding that reading about Noor also made her a more thoughtful person.
“There is a tendency to idolize the past, to see historical figures only by their greatest – or worst- deeds. With the research I went through to write the show, I got to look beneath that. One of the benefits of taking so much time with it was that I had time to really tease apart the scenes and wait for inspiration to strike,” she says of transcribing her notes into the structure that would become the play.
Agent Madeleine weaves through various time points, beginning with Noor’s capture and using flashbacks to show the audience how she came to be where she is. The play’s final image has stayed consistent for McKay throughout the three years. Casting the role of a woman McKay now so deeply admired would be difficult. How do you find somebody in reality that can bring to life the person you have pictured so perfectly in your mind. Thankfully, reality has actress Puja Uppal in it.
“I’ve never met anyone quite like her. She really inhabits the Noor described by her friends and family – quiet, regal, delicate, but with an inner strength,” explains McKay. “Puja’s attention to detail and dedication to Noor’s story has been something to behold. She’s done an incredible amount of research, and her perspective as an Indian woman has been essential to shaping the play so it accurately reflects that real experience.”
She also shouts out 17-year-old actor Jesse Nasmith. Playing young resistance member Marcel De Faye, he has one of the heaviest roles to carry in terms of the show’s emotional weight. It’s a remarkably touching performance from the teen.
When asked why she feels this piece of history hasn’t been included in much text and film on the War, McKay cites bias as a being a big reason, that Noor didn’t fit into the myth that only straight, white men lived and died on the front lines. Agent Madeline contradicts that narrative.
‘I want to look people in the eye and say, yes, this story is true,” says McKay. “Women fought and died on the front lines. Racial, religious, and sexual minorities died on the front lines of the war. That we were there, that we have always been there.”
McKay turns to Noor’s only published book when relaying what she hopes the audience takes away from the play.
In it Noor wrote:
I do not suffer when I have to leave this world, as I have saved the freedom of my subjects. And if my death can be a lesson for you, then I am more than happy. It is not your sword, which makes you a king, it is love alone. Do not forget, that your life is only little what you give, when with your sacrifice you can assure the happiness of your subjects.
Agent Madeline Created by Chlesea MacKay
Produced by Rainy Heart Productions
Showtimes: June 15, 16,17,20,22 and 24 at La Nouvelle Scene Gilles Desjardin – Studio B
Check Ottawafringe.com for tickets and times.