Photo of Nancy Wake, inspiration for play.
- Audience
- 16+
- Cast
- 6 with doubling; 3 she/her, 3 he/his
- Runtime
- 90 minutes
- New Play Exchange
When the Germans invade France, Nancy, a rich socialite house wife, isn’t able to sit back and do nothing. Despite her husband's objections, she gets involved with the resistance. For Nancy it’s a slippery slope and soon she graduates from delivering letters to breaking men out of concentration camps. Forced to flee the country with the Gestapo and Vichy on her heals, she is lead to safety over the Pyrenees Mountains. Nancy, however, isn’t satisfied with a quiet life back in England and requests quickly to be sent back into the fight. After training, the SOE drop Nancy back into France and into one of the Marquis camps, a guerrilla group of Frenchmen still fighting the Germans.
Surviving in a male dominated world, Nancy’s motivations are constantly called into question, forcing her to make the men see her as a person capable of great things and not just an object of desire. At the end of the war though, when France is finally free, the audience and Nancy learn just how much she sacrificed by fighting for what she believes in.