Casting announced for Intimate Apparel.

Tanya Moodie and Chu Omambala lead the cast of Lynn Nottage‘s multi-award winning Intimate Apparel at Bath Ustinov Studio, the final production in the Ustinov’s American Season 2014.

Intimate Apparel, is set in 1905 in New York City where Esther, a black seamstress, sews exquisite lingerie for clients who range from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes. She has saved enough to allow her to dream of one day opening a beauty salon for black women, and at 35 years old, longs for a husband and a future. When she begins to receive beautiful letters from a lonesome Caribbean man who is working on the Panama Canal, it looks like life may be about to take a different course.

Tanya Moodie plays Esther. Her previous credits include Fences with Lenny Henry which toured the UK before a run at the Dutchess Theatre, The Chair Plays, A Thousand Stars Explode In The Sky (Lyric Hammersmith) 66 Books (Bush Theatre) and The Overwhelming (NT). Chu Omambala recently played Albany in King Lear at Chichester and BAM New York. Previous credits include Dantons Death and Women Beware Women (NT) Bedroom Farce (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Cantebury Tales (RSC). The rest of the cast comprises Ilan Goodman(Shiver, Paper Dolls, Red Light Winter); Sara Topham (The Importance Of Being Earnest, Fuenta Ovejuna); Dawn Hope as Mrs Dickson (The Scottsborough Boys, Coronation Street); and Rochelle Neil (Chicago, Fantastic Mr Fox).

Directed by Ustinov Studio artistic director Laurence Boswell Intimate Apparel runs at the Ustinov from 29 May to 28 June.

– Kris Hallett