For Elliott Morgan, growing up in Manningham in the 1950s and 60s was a happy time in a friendly, multi-cultural community.

His family was one of many white families living in the area alongside Asian neighbours.

Manningham was where Elliott met his childhood sweetheart, Jamiela, now his wife of 40 years. But last year's riots in the area paint a different picture of multi-cultural Bradford - and the negative image that the city has since suffered inspired Elliott to write his first play.

The Priestley Centre is to stage the play, called Unreasonable Behaviour, this week. Elliott, 58, is directing and appearing in it with his wife and a mixed race cast. He describes it as a light-hearted look at community relations in Bradford and says its themes of racial harmony are messages which support Bradford's Capital of Culture bid.

And the message is set to spread nationwide, after the play attracted interest from the BBC which has been filming rehearsals for the performance this week.

"It's basically a comedy," said Elliott. "It's raw and the language is close to the bone - but it reflects what I know to be reality.

"Manningham was - and is - a harmonious place, with different cultures living side by side.

"We were very saddened by the riots last year. There were outside factors which led to it and it was the communities within Bradford, particularly Manningham, that suffered.

"Suddenly Bradford had this image of being a hotbed of racial tension. The Bradford I saw on the news wasn't the Bradford I knew."

Elliott is a student at the Priestley's Green Room drama class and showed the play to a director who encouraged him to take it to the stage.

"I wanted to show the positive image of Bradford , the one that seemed to have been forgotten. I wanted to redress the balance," said Elliott. "We need to show that there is pride here, that different cultures can live together, that it's not all riots.

"I hope the culture bid will bring more opportunities to Bradford - for people like me who want to write, and for more Asian actors to perform at places like the Priestley."

The play centres on a white family and its Asian neighbours "who come and go through each others' houses all day, just as they did when I was growing up," said Elliott.

Unreasonable Behaviour runs from tomorrow to Saturday at 7.30pm. For tickets ring (01274) 820666.