A recently graduated actress is set to make her professional stage debut at Richmond's Orange Tree Theatre in a new production telling the story of a wartime spy.

Kiah Arya will play a young Noor in A Small and Quiet Light, which runs at the Orange Tree Theatre from 21 September to 24 October.

The production explores the life of Noor Inayat Khan, a musician and writer who became a British secret agent during the Second World War.

For Arya, the role marks her first professional stage appearance after graduating from drama school but it also presented another challenge.

She told Richmond Nub News: "I was terrified because I done keyboard since I was really young, but I haven't done piano and I get so nervous playing to an audience."

Despite her nerves, the actress said the role felt like "such a gem and such a gift" as a recent graduate.

"To be able to play a younger version of the main character is incredible," she said.

Rather than attempting to copy Priyanga Burford, who plays the older Noor, Arya said the pair worked to create a shared understanding of the character.

"I really took from what Priyanga was doing," Arya said.

"It was about creating a shared language without copying each other with what we were doing."

Arya said she approached the role by stripping Noor back to her fundamental character traits and focusing on her youthful energy.

She described young Noor as sheltered from the wider world and said her character exists almost in a "bubble" within the production.

Arya added: "I can be this trance-like, sleepwalking-like, dream-like figure that's just captivated in her own form of arts and writing and piano without the backdrop of the war being present yet."

Researching Noor's childhood also helped Arya understand how her upbringing shaped the woman she would become.

She said she was struck by the responsibilities Noor was given from a young age, including instructions from her father to look after her mother while he was away.

"She really was the second mother of the house," Arya said.

"And that sort of naivety or sense of wanting to please someone or be that child kind of never left her."

Arya had played keyboard from a young age but had not formally studied piano to a professional level.

When she received the audition, she admitted she was unsure whether the production team would still want to see her after hearing her piano skills.

"I sent them a tape to say, 'Are you sure you still want to see me? This is all I can do,'" she said.

Rather than performing Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune as a conventional concert piece, the production uses sections of the work in a more contemporary way.

Arya also performs prepared piano, a technique she had never encountered before the production.

"It's like where you strip the strings away and put different items on the strings to distort the sound," the actor said.

She worked closely with sound designer Nicola T. Chang, who helped break down the piece into something she could perform.

Arya said she saw the production as an opportunity to overcome her fear of performing piano in front of an audience.

"I've always wanted to play the piano to an audience to get rid of that fear and I was just like, yes, let me dive head in," she admitted.

Research for the production also took Arya to Tangmere, where she learned more about the small acts of resistance carried out during the Second World War.

She recalled learning about workers deliberately sabotaging products being manufactured for Germany as an act of rebellion.

For Arya, these stories highlighted the importance of finding moments of joy and resistance during difficult periods.

She said: "These people have given me the life that I have now, so how can I honour that and how can I make sure that I'm making the most of everything that I'm doing?"

Arya is performing alongside an all-female cast, something she said she had not initially realised when taking on the role.

She described her castmates as "powerhouses" and said she had been able to learn from their experience.

"I was like a little sponge just soaking everything up," she said.

The cast, she added, had made her feel welcomed and supported during her first professional production.

"They're incredible actors," Arya said. "And importantly, very, very lovely people that have made me feel accepted and welcome."

She also said working alongside Burford had helped her understand the character and the demands of performing professionally.

Arya hopes audiences leaving the Orange Tree Theatre will not only have learned about Noor's story, but will also be encouraged to seek out other lesser-known stories from history.

"I would love them to learn something new," she said.

"I want them to feel a sense of pride that actually, you know, maybe there were more than one sort of type of person who helped win this war for us."

She also hopes audiences will be inspired to look beyond the better-known figures in history.

"Look for maybe stories that aren't so known," she said. "Try and find them out because there are loads of them."

For Arya set to make her professional debut, the production represents the beginning of her professional acting career.

"I honestly feel over the moon," she said.

"I can't believe that this is what I get to do for my career. And what a better production than this one."

She said the experience had left her feeling proud and excited about the future.

"You feel like you've grown up and you're now living exactly what you wanted to live five years ago and you're seeing that all happen," she continued.

"Being excited is probably the main word I'd use for how I'm feeling because...it just makes me have a lot of hope for the future and that we can do this."

Orange Tree's A Small and Quiet Light is playing until 24 October. To find out more and to book tickets click here.

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