NATALIE Casey talks at a million miles an hour. She’s funny, forthright and prone to the odd phrase which might make those of a delicate nature blush.

We’re chatting during a break in rehearsals for Thing I Know to Be True which opens at the Lowry on Tuesday.

For Rawtenstall-born Natalie, it’s a chance to catch up with friends and family.

“I’m hoping that mum and dad will come to the show,” she said. “it would be pretty sad if they didn’t - it’s only half an hour away!

“I’ve never performed at the Lowry and it’s such a brilliant theatre, so I’m really excited about that. It’s just dead nice to be going home for a bit.”

Things I Know to Be True is touring the UK for the first time. Written by Andrew Bovell, it is the the story of a family and marriage as seen through the eyes of four grown siblings, one of which is Pip played by Natalie.

“There are a lot of things in this piece that people will identify with and will break people’s hearts all over again and force them to think about their own relationships with their family,” she said.

“I think that’s a very important thing at the moment. The way the world is going, people are becoming more and more separate and it’s important to think about the community you inhabit whether it’s your friends or your family.

“It’s equally heartbreaking and hilarious at same time.”

Things I Know to be True will certainly test Natalie’s fitness levels.

“It is a very physical show,” she said. “That’s what is brilliant about being part of a company like Frantic Assembly. Mixing movement and drama is such a difficult thing to do but they do it so effectively.

“We’ve done circuits and weight training just to get us ready for the moves we’re doing in the show.

“It’s been an interesting process and not something that I’ve done before. It’s an entirely different to dance or straight drama.”

Having first made a name for herself with a string of TV roles including Hollyoaks and the comedy Two Pints of Lager, Natalie has made a conscious decision to devote her time to the theatre. She has starred in the musicals 9 to 5 and Legally Blonde and the Seventies’ drama Abigail’s Party.

“If you want to be an actor, a proper actor, sooner or later you have to do the acting and that involves standing on a stage speaking words that have been written by award-winning writers, hopefully, and working with amazing directors and other brilliant actors,” she said. “That’s what makes you a better actor.

“I did make a conscious decision to experience all facets of theatre. It’s like it’s all very well and going to Marbella every year but don’t you want to see what the rest of the world has to offer?

“I love doing theatre. I love doing TV too but you’ve got to get up at five in the morning and who wants that?

“But I love the immediacy of the theatre. If you’re bad you’ll know about it because people wont clap. If they don’t like it, people will let you know straight away.”

Things I Know to be True was a hit when it was first staged in Australia earlier this year. For the UK tour it has been re-cast including award-winning actress Imogen Stubbs.

“I’m on stage with (expletive) Imogen Stubbs,” says Natalie. “To be on stage with actors of the calibre of the people in this show is unbelievable.”

Natalie will be sharing the stage with them for a few more weeks but what are her plans when Things I Know to be True ends its run?

“The show runs until the end of November then I’ve booked in for my hip replacement,” she laughed.

“I always say I don’t have any major ambitions and I’m always amazed that anyone wants to employ me. So at the end of this show, what happens then is you just go to auditions and someone will give you a job or they won’t.

“I’m old enough now - she’s 36 - to be very philosophical about it all. When you’re younger you panic that no-one is going to employ you or that you’re not doing the right stuff.

“But you come to realise that it all weaves in and out and you’ll get another gig and if you don’t, just sit on your sofa in your pants for a while and sooner or later something will come up.

“It’s important to think about what you want to do and not what you think you should be doing or what other people are telling you to do.”

Things I Know to be True, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Tuesday, November 8 to Saturday, November 12. Details from the box office 0843 208 6000