The British Ambassador's Belly Dancer at the Arts theatre 4 to 23 Feb 2008

The British Ambassador's Belly Dancer at the Arts theatre 4 to 23 Feb 2008

The British Ambassador's Belly Dancer, which is curently playing at the Fringe venue Arcola Theatre, will transfer to the West End's Arts Theatre for a three week run from 4 to 23 Feb 2008.

It is written by Craig Murray, Nadira Murray, Alan Hescott.

In 2004 Craig Murray, then British Ambassador for Uzbekistan, made two life changing decisions: he spoke out against the U.K 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.

This is the extraordinary true story of the life of Craig's mistress Nadira, dismissed in the British press as a dumb bimbo, she fought tooth and nail to survive in a 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 Craig she wishes to tell of her own journey from the slums to the Ambassadorial palace of Uzbekistan and finally a rented flat in Shepherd's Bush.