Noughts & Crosses – Hackney Empire

Noughts & Crosses arrives on stage with traces of something oxymoronically freshly familiar. Adapted from Malorie Blackman’s landmark novel, this production takes a story many already know and makes it feel sharper, stranger, more physical, and more painful in the flesh.

Set in an alternate society where racial power is reversed, the play follows Sephy and Callum, whose relationship unfolds in a world determined to divide them.

The production’s strongest moments are visual and physical. The first hanging scene is spectacularly staged, with the use of red creating beautiful and horrific image. The physical theatre is some of the best I have seen in a long time, especially in the sequence of the bombing, where movement and violence seem to collapse into one another. With only an eight-person cast, the show turns its enclosed world into a microcosm of class and ambition with astonishing control.

The multimedia work is equally impressive. Screens and live action echo each other with precision, the kind of detail that could easily feel gimmicky, but here it deepens the atmosphere, making the stage feel haunted by the surveillance and public spectacle.

The performances are strong across the board, but Lewis Tidy is the real standout as Callum. He brings a bruised vulnerability to the role, so Callum’s anger feels like something he has had to learn. There are also moments of unexpected humour, with the audience laughing at points that could have fallen flat. That is less a flaw than a testament to the writing’s ability to let people breathe inside a painful story.

The weaving of poetic, almost Shakespearean monologues through the production is another highlight. At times, it gives the play the feeling of an old tragedy retold for the present: intimate.

My only real issue was sound. At certain points, the volume dipped too low, making it difficult to catch every line. But that feels more like a technical frustration than a criticism of the production itself.

Performed in the beautiful surroundings of Hackney Empire, Noughts & Crosses feels like a fuse being lit. Without comparing mediums too neatly, this version feels even more powerful than the television adaptation. It makes one question what happens when a society teaches people to accept cruelty as order.

You leave moved, strangely energised. Not exactly hopeful, but in the mood for liberation.

Reviewer: Zandra Odetunde

Reviewed: 12th May 2026

North West End UK Rating: