Pilot Theatre Will Tour Malorie Blackman's NOUGHTS AND CROSSES

Pilot Theatre has announced that from September it will be touring their award-winning 2019 production of Sabrina Mahfouz's exciting adaptation of Malorie Blackman's critically acclaimed young adult novel of first love in a dangerous fictional dystopia - Noughts & Crosses.

The production will open at York Theatre Royal from 16 -24 September 2022 before embarking on a national tour through to Spring 2023.

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.

Told from the perspectives of 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.

Noughts & Crosses first toured in 2019 as the first co-production between Pilot Theatre, Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and York Theatre Royal who in 2018 formed a new partnership to develop, produce and present theatre for younger audiences. The Pilot Theatre production was seen by over 30,000 people on tour with 40 % 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 due to air this Spring on BBC One and i Player. The fifth novel in her Noughts & Crosses sequence, Crossfire, was published by Penguin Random House Children's in 2019.

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 and writer from South London, England. Her recent plays have included 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.

Sabrina said about the return of Noughts and Crosses:

"It's brilliant that after being paused for so long, this play will go back on stages across the country and get people of all ages talking about racism, love, the power of youth, injustice and all the issues Malorie Blackman's story brings to the forefront of her characters' lives."

Noughts & Crosses will open at York Theatre Royal from the 16-24 September and will then tour to Richmond Theatre, London (27 September - 1st October); Exeter Northcott (4- 8th Oct); Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford (11- 15 Oct); Northern Stage, Newcastle (18 - 22 Oct); Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield (1-5 Nov); New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (8-12 Nov); and Liverpool Playhouse (22- 26 Nov). Dates in 2023 will be announced in the coming months.

Pilot Theatre is currently touring S. Shakthidharan's adaptation of Zana Fraillon's The Bone Sparrow which will be at Theatre Peckham from the 7-23 April.

For more information on Noughts & Crosses please visit www.pilot-theatre.com.

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