Many readers would agree that Noughts and Crosses is something of a landmark text, and this adaptation captures that significance with striking clarity. Blackman once described her story as an “inverted world” designed to expose the prejudices we often refuse to acknowledge, and under the direction of Esther Richardson and written by Sabrina Mahfouz, the production wastes no time in bringing those divisions into the spotlight.
The scene is stripped back with a bare stage that forces the most from the actors’ craft. Here is just a beach with Sephy and Callum – they are in love. Sephy is a cross and Callum is a nought. This is a forbidden love. At its core, the story echoes the structure of Romeo and Juliet, placing a love story within a deeply segregated society shaped and sharply divided by racism and systemic inequality. However, this is far from a romanticised retelling. There is no indulgence in poetic longing here - rather, it is a relationship constrained by social pressure, institutional power, and a world that has already determined where each individual belongs.
We are cornered into this ‘sniper’s alley’ stage world where danger and division lurk -ready to strike at any moment. References to manipulated media narratives, extremism, violence, and entrenched xenophobia no longer read as distant plot devices. In our precarious world of current global events, they land with a disquieting sense of familiarity. At times, the production feels less like fiction and more like a reflection - holding a mirror up to realities just beyond the theatre doors.
More than ever, Noughts and Crosses operates as a warning. While rooted in themes of racism, it also interrogates the consequences of unchecked power, the exploitation of fear, and the widening of social divides. The discomfort it provokes is deliberate and necessary, encouraging the audience to confront these issues rather than passively observe them.
From a staging perspective, the production demonstrates a clear confidence in its storytelling. The set design is deliberately minimal, avoiding elaborate scene changes in favour of a stripped-back space that allows the narrative to take centre stage. The moody red lighting creates tension, and the sound design carries much of the atmospheric weight, while small television screens embedded in the backdrop add a layer of realism and create a slightly unsettling mood, reinforcing the weighty influence of media within the story’s world. The result is a production that feels intense, sharp, focused, cohesive, and intellectually engaging rather than visually overwhelming.
The cast, though small, packs a lot of punch and deliver emotional performances of notable clarity and distinction. With actors frequently shifting between roles, the success of the production relies heavily on their ability to delineate characters - and this is executed with precision. It is a dynamic ensemble work exploring often brutal, uncomfortable topics. Changes in physicality, tone, and energy ensure that each character remains immediately recognisable, maintaining coherence throughout.
Notably, the second half of the production feels particularly impactful, with a heightened emotional intensity and stronger narrative momentum. Brianna Douglas’ Sephy and Lewis Tidy’s Callum light up the stage in this half with their performances. It is here that the themes fully crystallise, and the stakes become undeniably clear. Audience engagement is also markedly high throughout, with a palpable sense of attentiveness and emotional investment that underscores the production’s effectiveness. There were lots of laughs spilling through the auditorium with the heavily teenage audience especially during Callum and Sephy’s love scenes and there was a sense of strong audience engagement throughout the show.
Ultimately, this adaptation of Noughts and Crosses is both thought-provoking and uncomfortably relevant - an experience that lingers well beyond the final curtain. Its final message is one of hope for a better world, a world of less division, more unity and more compassion and understanding of our similarities and differences on a deeply human scale.
