Pilot Theatre is to première Zoe Cooper's new adaptation of David Almond's award-winning book A Song for Ella Grey.
Claire and her best friend, Ella Grey, are ordinary kids from ordinary families in an ordinary world. They and their friends fall in and out of love, play music and dance, stare at the stars, yearn for excitement, and have parties on the beautiful beaches of Northumberland.
One day, a stranger, a musician called Orpheus, appears on the beach and entrances them all, but particularly Ella. It is a meeting that will change all their lives forever.
The cast will feature actress, writer and TikTok performer Grace Long (Breeders, Sky/FX and the film Three Days Millionaire, Shush Films) as Ella Grey, Beth Crame (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Northern Stage) as Angeline, Jonathan Iceton (Down the Lines, The Customs House) as Jay, Amonik Merlaco (Singin’ In The Rain, Sadlers Wells and Heathers The Musical, The Other Palace) as Sam and Olivia Onyehara (All’s Well That Ends Well/Richard III, Royal Shakespeare Company and The 39 Steps, Stephen Joseph Theatre) as Claire.
A Song for Ella Grey will open in 2024 at Northern Stage, Newcastle then tours to York Theatre Royal, Theatre Peckham, Hull Truck Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse and Yvonne Arnaud Guildford.