SAIKAT Ahamed tells the story of his family history and the emerging nation of Bangladesh in The Tiger And The Moustache in the York Theatre Royal Studio tonight at 7.45pm.

First performed last year at the Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol, the 75-minute piece of personal and political storytelling uses theatre, music, dance and a healthy dollop of humour as it asks: "Where do we come from and what makes us who we are? Is our destiny written in the stars or stamped in a passport?"

From East London to East Bengal, taking in Birmingham, Germany and Glasgow, the story of Bangladesh is woven together by Ahamed, who traces the journey of Hashi, his mother, who was born on the very first day of a new nation. She is the girl who always smiles, growing up surrounded by flying tigers in the Sunderban jungles, and as the story progresses, Ahamed slides in and out of time from the agonies of Partition in 1947 up to the present day, boarding fishing boats up the Megna River and rickshaws along the dusty roads of Dacca en route.

Writer-performer Saikat Ahamed has appeared regularly in the ITV series Monday Monday and Sky TV's Trollied, while his films include East Is East and This Must Be The Place.

His tour of The Tiger And The Moustache moves on to The Carriageworks in Leeds on Saturday at 7.45pm. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 224 3801.