Shrewsbury play heading to the silver screen at Edinburgh Festival

The creators of a play to be premiered at The Wightman Theatre next month are celebrating three surprises.

The first is that their production of Ursula – Queen of the Jungle has been selected to represent Shrewsbury at this summer's Edinburgh Festival.

Secondly, they have been invited to tour India with the show, and thirdly, a Hollywood film company has taken out an option on the storyline of the remarkable woman who was dubbed "head hunter-housewife".

Written by Chris Eldon Lee and performed by Joanna Purslow, the play tells the story of Ursula Graham Bower, who was a good friend of the murdered Shrewsbury rose grower Hilda Murrell, and a regular visitor to the town.

It was at a talk in Shrewsbury in 1981 that she revealed her adventurous life. In 1938 she travelled to north east India to study the customs of the head-hunting Naga natives.

She formed such a strong bond with the tribesmen that when war broke out they asked her to lead them against the Japanese. Consequently, Ursula became the only female combatant officer in the Second World War. But her role was concealed in British Army records as a 'typist'.

"It's the most unlikely of true stories," said Mr Eldon Lee, "which really is an old fashioned 'Girl's Own' comic adventure, with plenty of comedy and a poignant, political twist." Ms Purslow plays all 11 characters in the show.

"They range from Ursula to a moustachioed colonel and three Naga warriors," she said. "It's a huge challenge and taking the show to Edinburgh is thrilling."

Ursula was travelling in the wilds of north east India in 1938 when she made her first contact with the head-hunting natives of the Naga Hills.

"There was a strange case of double déjà vu," said Ms Purslow. "Some of the Nagas thought she was their long-lost goddess and Ursula felt as if she 'knew them' already.

"When war broke out and the Japanese threatened to invade India, the British Army was desperate to recruit the Nagas as jungle scouts to monitor incursions. The Nagas agreed, provided they could choose their own leader. And they chose the Brit they felt they could trust the most."

Over her seven years living cheek by jowl with them, Ursula endeared herself to the Nagas by using her Red Cross training to heal their sick. She also filmed their dance, crafts and customs – clips of which Shrewsbury's 'light artist' Andy McKeown will weave into a panoramic backdrop for the play. Love Lee productions sent a video of their last play Shakespeare's Will to C Venues, one of the Fringe's major promoters.

"Next day they booked our new show", said Mr Eldon Lee. "We'll be doing two weeks in their Hill Street studio.

"Meanwhile, we've been invited to tour the play this winter to the jungle villages Ursula knew personally. And we've just learned that CBS has taken out an option to make a movie about her." Shrewsbury audiences get their chance to see the story on stage next week.

Ursula – Queen of the Jungle is at The Wightman Theatre in The Square from May 3 to 6.

Tickets are available from The Trophy Shop in Milk Street or www.thewightman.co.uk.