Pilot Theatre, in co-production with Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre, Colchester and York Theatre Royal are delighted to announce full casting for the premiere of Sabrina Mahfouz’s new adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s critically acclaimed young adult novel of first love in a dangerous fictional dystopia – Noughts & Crosses.
As previously announced Noughts & Crosses’ exciting cast will be led by Heather Agyepong and Billy Harris playing the roles of Sephy and Callum.
Joining Heather and Billy will be Doreene Blackstock as Jasmine; Jack Condon as Jude, Daniel Copeland as Ryan; Lisa Howard as Meggie; Chris Jack as Kamal and Kimisha Lewis as Minerva.
Told from the perspectives of the two teenagers, Noughts & Crosses is a captivating love story set in a volatile, racially segregated society and explores the powerful themes of love, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world.
Sabrina Mahfouz’s new adaptation is based on Malorie Blackman’s first book in the Noughts & Crosses series for young adults, which has won the Red House Children’s Book Award and the Fantastic Fiction Award among other accolades. A BBC adaptation of Noughts & Crosses is due to be screened in 2019 and the fifth novel in the Noughts & Crosses sequence, Crossfire, will be published by Penguin Random House Children’s in summer 2019.
Directed by Pilot Theatre’s Artistic Director Esther Richardson and designed by Simon Kenny, Noughts & Crosses will be the first co-production between Pilot Theatre, Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre, Colchester and York Theatre Royal who have recently formed a new partnership to develop theatre for younger audiences. The companies will commission and co-produce an original mid-scale production each year from 2019-2022, which will play in all the consortium venues as well as touring nationally.
Noughts & Crosses will open at Derby Theatre from the 1-16 February 2019 and will then embark on a tour to Theatr Clwyd, Mold; The Lowry, Salford; Mercury Theatre Colchester; Bristol Old Vic; Brighton Theatre Royal; Belgrade Theatre Coventry; York Theatre Royal; Theatre Royal Stratford East and Northern Stage.
