Noughts & Crosses (NHB Modern Plays): Sabrina Mahfouz/Pilot Theatre adaptation

By Malorie Blackman

Sephy and Callum sit together on a beach. They are in love. It is forbidden.

Sephy is a Cross and Callum is a Nought. Between Noughts and Crosses there are racial and social divides. A segregated society teeters on a volatile knife-edge. As violence breaks out, Sephy and Callum draw closer, but this is a romance that will lead them into terrible danger.

This gripping Romeo and Juliet story by acclaimed writer Malorie Blackman is a captivating drama of love, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world.

Sabrina Mahfouz’s stage adaptation first toured the UK in 2019 and won the Excellence in Touring category at the UK Theatre Awards. It was commissioned and presented by Pilot Theatre in co-production with Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre Colchester and York Theatre Royal.

‘Malorie Blackman’s bestseller leaps off the stage in a fine new adaptation’ Observer

‘A searing insight into the injustices of the world… Mahfouz’s adaptation highlights some deep truths and sharp parallels with the here and now’ The Stage

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Sep 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781788503501

Malorie Blackman

Malorie Blackman is one of the UK's leading children's authors, and offers a unique insight into multicultural Britain. She is a prolific writer, having produced over 50 books for children since 1990. One of these, ‘Pig-Heart Boy’, was nominated for the prestigious Carnegie Medal and adapted into a BAFTA award-winning television series. Another of her novels, ‘Noughts and Crosses’, was voted as one of the nation's 100 favourite books in the BBC Big Read survey.