Noughts & Crosses: The Review

Heather Agyepong and Billy Harris as Sephy and Callum. Photo credits: Robert Day

A few weeks ago my friend from University invited me to watch the stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses with her (hey Kemi), which is adapted by Sabrina Mahfouz and directed by Esther Richardson. Of course, I was over the moon, and with a ticket to the opening night at London’s Pilot theatre, I was excited to see how the story was interpreted from the page to the stage. This is the first of many adaptions, with a BBC film adaptation currently being filmed in South Africa for a release later on in the year, starring Jack Rowan and Masali Baduza and featuring Stormzy!! Now if that isn’t exciting, I really don’t know for you.

For those of you that know me personally, you’ll know that I discuss the mixed-race-identity-topic quite a bit and have done for years. So much so, that I was passionate enough to write my Undergraduate dissertation on this very topic and discussed the mixed-race identity in British literature under the title “Shades of Brown and where we stand” (I had to find a way to get away with writing on the mixed-race saga one way or another!) and featured Blackman’s series, with particular emphasis on her later books.

While the rest of my course mates focused on exploring the Bronte sisters, delved into Chaucer’s works or analysed nineteenth-century novels, I decided to write on more pressing and relevant matters (to me), particularly within the UK. Although I’m not bashing them for their decision, writing on these topics simply wasn’t up my street (sorry, not sorry). As Blackman was one of the first British writers giving interracial mixing in literature a platform, writing on something new and personal to me AND getting away with reliving my childhood books was wayyy more interesting and above all, not boring! I tell you now, after many years of joking about writing on this topic, I was not about to miss the opportunity! Although I’d love to discuss my dissertation in depth (no really, I would), I know we’ll be here forever…So if you didn’t know before, now you know why I was hyped and grateful for the tickets. Although Blackman does explore mixed-race identity in her later books, her first book looks solely on interatrial relationships which is what the play is based on.

If you’re not familiar with Blackman’s series, she gained wide recognition when she released her first novella in 2001. In her series, Blackman flips “conventional” racism on its head in her attempt to critique racism from a different perspective. The protagonist, Persephone Hadley (also known as Sephy) is a Naught (a black person) and daughter of Kamal Hadley - an influential politician - whilst her best friend Callum McGregor is a Cross (a white person), whose mother worked as a nanny for the Hadley’s before she was fired. With racism at its peak and segregation in full force, the two friends find ways to meet in secret despite the chaos in their personal and public lives. In her Bildungsroman (a coming-of-age-book) we see life through the eyes of a black protagonist and are forced to acknowledge racism in a different light.

The play adaptation follows Blackman’s first book of the Nought’s and Crosses series, exploring the stigma of interracial relationships, racial class and privilege. Sabrina Mahfouz does a fantastic job of encapsulating the audience and stays very close to the original storyline. The play is two hours long with a short interval, and I honestly wasn’t prepared for the emotional rollercoaster throughout. The inclusion of small, but important examples of segregation such as only black-coloured plasters, the b-word - “blankers” as a derogatory term for white people and a restriction on drinks - only milk on the weekend and orange juice only for Noughts re-emphasises what racism looks like reversed. This, along with other subtle nuances, highlights the underlying and dark reality of racism and segregation that we’ve witnessed in the past and in the real world.

The cast, compiled of eight actors who interchange in roles were absolutely flawless in their delivery and did not crumble to an immature audience such as ours (we had some school-children with us and some bits were hilarious in all fairness!). I cannot find any fault in the delivery or quality of the performance but there were a few teething problems with the set - something that is expected of any opening night - however, the cast was professional and composed throughout and if I’m being honest, none of us seemed to mind. The play has been on tour over the country and London is its last location. It has been running in the Pilot Theatre since the 24th of April and will run until the 4th of May. Tickets are mostly sold out, though you can still contact the theatre for availability. See more here

I may have got a littttttle excited seeing this!

After the show, I took to Twitter to tweet about the production (as you do) and to praise the cast for a great performance. Obviously, I had to @ Blackman herself to let her know that I had written on her series in the past. In a pleasant surprise, Blackman managed to see my tweets and liked my response a few moments later - definitely a perfect end to a fantastic night! If you are lucky enough to watch the production over the next few days, I’m certain you’ll enjoy it just as much as we did!

I really pray this isn’t the end and I hope that they continue to adapt the other books into stage productions as it’s something we would all love to see! Congratulations again to all the team behind this production, and I can’t wait to see how the film adaption turns out! More of this, please!! In the meantime, if you feel like re-living your childhood or want to read Blackman’s books for the first time, you can grab a copy here.

The Noughts and crosses cast. Photo Credits: Robert Day

The cast:

Heather Agyepong - Sephy
Billy Harris - Callum
Doreene Blackstock - Jasmine
Jack Condon - Jude
Daniel Copeland - Ryan
Lisa Howard - Meggie
Chris Jack - Kamal
Kimisha Lewis - Minerva

***Please note there are some trigger warnings for those who may be sensitive and strobe lighting and haze are used throughout the production so an age restriction of 12 is in place.

Rating 4.5/5

Liz x

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