BOOKING NOW: MUST SEE EVENT

A Song for Ella Grey York Theatre Royal, February 20-24. Tickets and details yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

PILOT Theatre – in association with York Theatre Royal and Northern Stage – is bringing A Song for Ella Grey, Zoe Cooper’s new adaptation of David Almond’s award-winning contemporary retelling of the Orpheus myth, to York Theatre Royal next month.

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.

A Song for Ella Grey is a tale of modern friends and ancient forces, a tale told since the dawn of time and told again today. The cast features actress, writer and celebrated TikTok creator Grace Long as Ella Grey; Beth Crame as Angeline; Jonathan Iceton as Jay; Amonik Melaco as Sam; and Olivia Onyehara as Claire.

David Almond is one of the most prolific and highly acclaimed writers of novels for children and young adults. His books have included Skellig, Kit’s Wilderness, My Name is Mina, Joe Quinn’s Poltergeist, The Tightrope Walkers, The Savage, A Song for Ella Grey, Half a Creature from the Sea, The Colour of the Sun, The Tale of Angelino Brown, The Dam and many more novels, stories, picture books, plays, songs and opera libretti.

His work has been translated into more than 40 languages and has won a string of major awards around the world. In 2022 he was awarded an OBE for services to literature.

“A Song for Ella Grey is so close to my heart,” says Almond. “The novel itself came with great force, demanding to be told. It’s my version of the great Orpheus myth, which has been told many times in many forms and will be told forever more.

“This version takes place in ordinary northeastern streets, on wild north-eastern beaches, among ordinary north-eastern teenagers. Hades lies just beneath the city. Orpheus appears on the shores of the North Sea.

“Ella Grey and her dear friends are drawn rapidly into this ancient tale of love and death, of music and joy. I’m so thrilled that Pilot Theatre and Zoe Cooper are bringing the tale to the stage.”