TOLD from the perspectives of two teenagers, Noughts & Crosses is a love story set in a volatile, racially segregated society.

Adapted by Sabrina Mahfouz from the first of Malorie Blackman's award-winning series of novels for young adults, it forms the first co-production in a new partnership between York Theatre Royal, company-in-residence Pilot Theatre, the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Derby Theatre and the Mercury Theatre, Colchester.

Formed to develop theatre for younger audience, the consortium will commission and co-produce an original mid-scale production each year from 2019 to 2022, with each production playing in all the consortium venues, as well as touring nationally.

First up is Noughts & Crosses. Directed by Pilot artistic director Esther Richardson, this tale of first love in a dangerous fictional dystopia plays York Theatre Royal from Tuesday to Saturday with its exploration of love, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world.

Sabrina Mahfouz says of her new adaptation: "As a young adult, Noughts & Crosses showed me the power storytelling can have in highlighting injustice in the world, so it's a complete honour to now be adapting the legendary Malorie Blackman’s words for the stage, alongside the bold vision of Pilot Theatre and partners."

Pilot's production has been doing well at the box office, selling out at The Lowry in Salford, Manchester, the Belgrade in Coventry and the upcoming two-week run at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, London, in April.

"It's been a huge success already, exceeding expectations," says a delighted Esther. "Because of the appeal of the book, it's bringing in people who have never been to the theatre before.

"There's an audience of under-35s for whom this book is one of the most important they've read, because of what it says, and they're coming to the play with such affection for it."

Esther was determined to stage Noughts & Crosses. "I really wanted to do this project," she says. "It was something I brought to my first Pilot interview, because it just felt like the perfect Pilot project, as we aspire to bringing unity into the world at a time of division, and it's important that our projects have a powerful sense of inclusion.

"That makes Noughts & Crosses an obvious choice for Pilot to do, and we're really excited to be able to do it, having had the first meeting with Malorie in 2016, just after Trump had been elected, Jo Cox had been murdered and Britain had voted for Brexit. So it was a time of uncertainty and the rising threat of racism."

Malorie Blackman was immediately supportive of a stage version being mounted, and the consortium of kindred-spirited theatres came on board next.

"I'd worked with all those theatres, so I had an existing relationship with them and they knew what I felt passionate about, and they were all of the same way of thinking about Noughts & Crosses."

Blackman's story is built around "reversing the racial power dynamics, where the dominant society is now black," says Esther. "It cuts to the quick of certain truths that you don't realise until you read the book or see the play.

"The minority group in the story is now white, and they can't buy plasters in their own skin tone, for example.

"Just as in York, if you are black, you can't find plasters in your skin tone in the shops or you can't find ballet shoes in different shades. It's that kind of symbolism that makes you realise the difficulty of being 'other'.

"These may seem like small things but they all add up to feeling less important in our society structure."

Esther continues: "Malorie's story is so powerful in making you have this moment of revelation about what racism is and how it affects people. What was also important about the book was that it was about a young black woman who was bright and powerful and sophisticated in her thinking, and how was she going to use that power?

"How often did you find that storyline in literature before this book? That's why the story is so important for young black readers and audiences."

Pilot Theatre and York Theatre Royal present Noughts & Crosses at York Theatre Royal, April 2 to 6, 7.30pm plus 2pm, Thursday, and 2.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk