Exploring Shakespeare

Noughts & Crosses Act 1 Sc 4

Sephy and Callum meet at the beach after Sephy said 'blanker' at the school gates.

Noughts & Crosses Act 1 Sc 12

Lynette comes into Callum's bedroom and he talks to his sister talk about the future.

Performance photo gallery

Tension at school and Callum's arrest and imprisonment - explore scenes from Dominic Cooke's production.

Rehearsal photo gallery

Join the Noughts and Crosses company behind the scenes in rehearsal.

Actitivies Pack (396K)

Free activities for teachers to introduce students to the play and Story Theatre. (You need PDF reader software.)

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Information Pack (794K)

Free booklet with character map, plot summary, author Q&A and more. (You need PDF reader software.)

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CALLUM Can I kiss you? SEPHY What on earth for?

Sephy (Ony Uhiara) and Callum (Richard Madden) work out the correct procedure for their first ever kiss.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/2007
Copyright: © RSC 2007

SEPHY You've already passed the entrance exam. Why do we still have to do this? CALLUM I don’t want to give any of the teachers an excuse to kick me out.

Sephy (Ony Uhiara) helps Callum (Richard Madden) prepare for his first day at secondary school.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/2007
Copyright: © RSC

Looking at our rundown hovel, I could feel the usual burning churning sensation … Why couldn’t my family live in a house like Sephy’s?

Mealtime at the McGregor house. From left to right: Callum (Richard Madden), Meggie (Michelle Butterly), Jude (Freddy White), Lynette (Louise Callaghan) and Ryan (Phil McKee).

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/2007
Copyright: © RSC 2007

NO BLANKERS IN OUR SCHOOL! NO BLANKERS IN OUR SCHOOL!

Protestors try to block the way to new nought students at Heathcroft Secondary School.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

STOP IT! YOU’RE ALL BEHAVING LIKE ANIMALS! WORSE THAN ANIMALS! LIKE BLANKERS!

Sephy (Ony Uhiara) tries to persuade protesters to let nought pupils into Heathcroft School.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

She didn't say that. She couldn't have. Not Sephy… I'm not a blanker.

Callum (Richard Madden) is shocked to hear Sephy (Ony Uhiara) use the word 'blankers' at the protest at the school gates.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

I may be a nought but I'm worth more than nothing.

Callum (Richard Madden) tries to explain why he is so furious that Sephy (Ony Uhiara) called him a blanker.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

Callum (Richard Madden) braves the dinner hall at Heathcroft.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

Hi. I'm Sephy Hadley. Welcome to Heathcroft.

Sephy (Ony Uhiara) tries to make friends with the new noughts at Heathcroft.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

Why d'you want to be around them? Blanker lover.

Dionne (Davinia Anderson) and other Cross students are appalled at Sephy's attempts to socialise with noughts.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

If the Liberation Militia think this cowardly, barbaric act of terrorism is going to win over the population of this country to their way of thinking, then they are very much mistaken.

Kamal Hadley (Tyrone Huggins) gives a press conference after the Dundale Shopping centre bombing.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

Meggie (Michelle Butterly) and Sarah Pike (Jenny Ogilvie) at Ryan’s execution. The visors of the police helmets are blacked out because white-skinned actors are playing police, who can only be Crosses.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07
Copyright: © RSC 2007

Mother, I want to leave! Now!

Sephy (Ony Uhiara) has been brought to Ryan McGregor’s execution against her will. The other Hadleys (Tracy Ifeachor, Jo Martin and Tyrone Huggins) are embarrassed by her protests.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07

So the mouse can roar, can he?

Jude (Freddy White) questions Callum’s loyalty to the Liberation Army and gets an angry response.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07

CALLUM Love doesn't exist, friendship doesn't exist between a nought and a Cross. SEPHY Then what are you doing in my room?

Callum (Richard Madden) secretly visits Sephy (Ony Uhiara) at her house, the night after his father's last-minute reprieve.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07

Several weeks after Callum helps Sephy escape from the Liberation Army kidnap attempt, he hears she is pregnant. He risks capture by coming to see her at home and is arrested.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07

Callum (Richard Madden) is prepared for his execution.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07

Is it just the thought of Sephy and I having a child together that you can't stand, or is it mixed race children in general?

Kamal (Tyrone Huggins) offers Callum (Richard Madden) a deal. If he will persuade Sephy to agree to an abortion, his sentence will be commuted from execution to life imprisonment. Callum rejects the offer.

Act and Scene
Credit: Keith Pattison
Date: 29/11/07