Northern Stage’s first production for autumn 2017 is a new version of David Almond’s novel A Song for Ella Grey which will run from 5 to 16 September.
Almond is adapting his version of the Orpheus myth for the stage and it will be directed by Lorne Campbell, the theatre’s Artistic Director, with a creative team which includes set and costume designer Jen McGinley, winner of the 2015 Linbury Prize, movement director Martin Hylton, film maker Kris Deedigan who is working with Northern Stage Young Company members to create film and projections for the production and sound designer/composer Mariam Rezaei, who works predominantly with turntables, piano, vocals and electronics and is creating and recording an immersive soundscape for the production in collaboration with Young Company members.
The Young Company is for performers aged 16 to 21 who want to develop their talent and skills. They are treated like professional actors and, like the other young theatre-makers in the company, share a high level of commitment.
“I've set it (the story) on Tyneside, the place where I live, the place of my birth,” said Almond. “It’s about ordinary Tyneside teenagers with all their madness, joys and yearnings. At its heart is a simple tale of a girl and a boy falling in love. It asks the question, ‘Can Love be stronger than Death?’”
Generally rated as one of the most important writers for young people of this generation, Almond is a past winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, Whitbread Book Award, the Carnegie Medal and, most recently, the Guardian children’s fiction prize. Recent stage adaptations of his books include Skellig at the Sage, Gateshead, Heaven Eyes (toured by Théâtre Sans Frontières), The Savage at Live Theatre and Miracle! An Opera of Two Halves at Sunderland Minster.
Already cast in the production is Sunderland-born Amy Cameron who will play the lead role of Claire. She was most recently seen at Northern Stage in Get Carter as Jack Carter’s niece Doreen and has appeared in ITV’s Vera as well as in stage roles including Helene in A Doll’s House (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hallé).