Shades of Brown @ Library Theatre, Manchester

9:24pm Thursday 22nd November 2007

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IT would be impossible not to be impressed by the one hour long series of self-penned monologues by Rani Moorthy in Shades of Brown.

After taking her lonely seat in the centre of the Library stage at the start of the production she barely took a moment to breath, stopping only to change costume and facial make up as she moved from one speech to the next.

In Shades of Brown, Sale resident Rani addresses the audience through the lives of a number of characters whose existences have been shaped by the colour of their skin.

Starting with a post-Apartheid albino Zulu' disowned by South Africa's black and white communities and crossing the spectrum through to an Indian lady on her wedding day desperately trying to bleach her skin, it thoughtfully and emotionally questioned the attitudes towards race.

As is said almost like a mantra throughout the performance it is not as simple as black and white.

Like the stripped down nature of the whole show the make-up helped to keep everything focused on the central issue - race.

To say Shades of Brown was entertaining is not quite right but it certainly raised a number of interesting and important points without ever preaching and even raised the odd laugh.

Rani's performance was also packed with emotion making the plights of the individuals seem very real.

For those wanting to see a very unique take on an oft-tackled subject matter it is certainly worth a try.

*Shades of Brown is at the Library Theatre until Saturday November 24. For ticket information call the Library theatre box office on 0161 236 7110 or visit www.librarytheatre.com