THE only European performance of a play inspired by September 11 and the Afghan War opens at the Contact Theatre in Manchester tonight when US performer Bina Sharif stages her one-woman show, Afghan Woman.

Sharif, who saw the attacks on the Twin Towers from the roof of her Manhattan apartment, performs in a burka veil -- which the Taleban forced women to wear.

After each performance she will lead a discussion about the issues raised in her stageshow.