The British Ambassador's Belly Dancer - Arts Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
FOLLOWING a sell out run at Arcola Theatre, The British Ambassador’s Belly Dancer moves to the West End – to the Arts Theatre where it runs from February 4 to February 23, 2008.
In 2004, Craig Murray, then British Ambassador for Uzbekistan, made two life changing decisions: he spoke out against the UK Government using intelligence gained under torture by states such as Uzbekistan and he left his wife and children for a belly dancer he’d met in a nightclub in Tashkent.
The first led to Murray being suspended from service and lauded as a hero by many for his continued fight against human rights abuses and in particular Western moral hypocrisy. The second was used to undermine his credibility by his detractors in the media.
The British Ambassador’s Belly Dancer is the extraordinary true story of the life of Murray’s mistress Nadira who, though dismissed in the British press as a dumb bimbo, fought tooth and nail to survive in an undemocratic, misogynist regime that practices systematic torture on its citizens.
Raped twice, and scraping a living by working as a teacher, drugs runner and belly dancer, Nadira has now completed a foundation course in acting at Rose Bruford and graduated last summer from the Drama Studio. With the help of partner Murray, she tells of her journey from the slums to the Ambassadorial palace of Uzbekistan and finally a rented flat in Shepherd’s Bush.
Written by Craig Murray, Nadira Murray and Alan Hescott; performed by Nadira Murray, with the voice of Craig Murray; and directed by Thomas Hescott, The British Ambassador’s Belly Dancer is presented by Fledgling.
Tickets: £10 previews (February 4 and 5), £15, £12.50 concessions.
Time: 7.30pm.