Award-winning stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses arrives at Lowry next month as part of UK tour

Pilot Theatre, in association with Northern Stage, brings its celebrated revival of Sabrina Mahfouz’s adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s ground-breaking novel of love, loyalty and division to Salford from Tuesday 21st to Saturday 25th April.

The production’s exciting cast will feature Brianna Douglas (The Darkest Part of the Night, Kiln Theatre) as Sephy; Lewis Tidy (Romeo and Juliet, Young Shakespeare Company) as Callum; Elexi Walker (Mary and the Hyenas, Pilot Theatre and A Christmas Carol, Rose Theatre ) as Jasmine; Chris Jack (Coronation Street, ITV and Brighton Rock, Pilot Theatre and York Theatre Royal) as Kamal; Melody Adeniran (The River Runner, Almeida Theatre ) as Minnie; Emma Keele (Unforgivable, BBC and Monster, Park Theatre ) as Meggie; Daniel Copeland (Invincible, Orange Tree Theatre and The Jungle Book, Leeds Playhouse) as Ryan and Fintan Hayeck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Southwark Playhouse) as Jude.

Noughts & Crosses has been seen by over 79,000 people on tour with 55 % of the audience being aged under 20. It went on to win Pilot Theatre the award for excellence in Touring at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards.

Sabrina Mahfouz’s 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 was broadcast in 2019 with the second series airing in 2022 on BBC One and iPlayer. The fifth novel in the Noughts & Crosses sequence, Crossfire, was published by Penguin Random House Children's in summer 2019.

Director Esther Richardson said: “Noughts and Crosses has struck a real chord with audiences around the country and it is a great privilege to be working again on this enduring drama. The story cuts to the heart of why we must hold sacred and cherish our common humanity and be most wary of those who seek to divide us. It’s so exciting and humbling to have the most extraordinarily talented group of actors and creatives join us for this revival. We can’t wait to get started.”

Malorie Blackman has written over 60 books for children and young adults, including the Noughts & Crosses series, Thief and most recently her science fiction thriller Chasing the Stars. Her work has also been adapted for TV with the 6-part adaptation of Pig-Heart Boy winning a BAFTA and two series of Noughts & Crosses. In 2005, Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books, in 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature and, between 2013 and 2015, she was the Children’s Laureate. Malorie has also recently written for Doctor Who on BBC One.

Sabrina Mahfouz is a British Egyptian poet, playwright, performer, writer and producer. Her recent plays have included the Danny Boyle directed Free your Mind (Manchester International Festival), A History of Water in the Middle East (Royal Court); Offside (co-written with Hollie McNish); With a little bit of luck (Paines Plough) and published work includes poetry, plays and contributions to several anthologies. She has most recently been a writer and producer on Netflix's upcoming Will Ferrell and Ramy Youssef comedy series, Golf and a writer/producer on season 2 of the Emmy award winning Beef for A24/Netflix

Noughts and Crosses comes to Lowry, Salford from Tuesday 21st to Saturday 25th April. Tickets are available now from thelowry.com