Rani Moorthy presents States of Verbal Undress at Lowry, 7 March

Rani Moorthy stars in States of Verbal Undress, a new verbatim theatre piece from Rasa Productions which captures the soundscape of contemporary, multi-cultural Britain.

Based on two years of interviews with immigrant communities, the show is written and performed by Moorthy, best known for her role as Mrs Bilal in the popular BBC 2 sitcom, Citizen Khan.

Over two years, Rani has worked with fellow artists David Tse (Yellow Earth, Chinatown Arts), Mehrdad Seyf (30 Bird Productions) and Cilla Baynes (Community Arts Northwest) to collect interviews with recent immigrants and people from Burmese, Sri Lankan, Chinese, Iranian and Vietnamese immigrant communities.

States of Verbal Undress uses these verbatim interviews to create characters which cut across race, gender and age, and whose stories contribute to the patchwork fabric of contemporary British identity. Between them, Rani and Mancunion Curtis Cole unveil a variety of colourful characters including a Vietnamese drag artist, a Burmese activist and a Tamil who grew up in Bavaria.

In developing States of Verbal Undress, Rani was inspired by the work of Anna Deavere Smith (star of Nurse Jackie, The West Wing and The American President). Smith interviewed people around America with the intention of performing the true voice of America. She said that performing the words of a Korean woman after the L.A race riots as an African American taught her most about the complexity of immigrants and race.

At the cusp of a general election that will have immigration at its heart, Rasa presents an artistic response to current attitudes and prejudices towards the "tidal wave of immigrants".

Claire Symonds, Studio Programmer / Producer at The Lowry, says, "We are very proud to host the premiere of this extraordinary new show. States of Verbal Undress allows us to explore the diversity and complexity of modern day Britain through very real, very human stories. It demonstrates again that new theatre being made in the North is bold, passionate and exciting."

Rani Moorthy’s Curry Tales was nominated for a MEN best Fringe production when it was performed at The Library Theatre in 2004, it was then was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and went on to tour nationally and internationally.

States of Verbal Undress is at the Lowry from 7 – 8 March.