HEATHER Agyepong read Malorie Blackman’s groundbreaking book Noughts & Crosses when she was 13.

"I absolutely loved it," says the actor, artist and maker, who plays the teenage lead role of Sephy in Pilot Theatre's new stage adaptation at York Theatre Royal from tmorrow (April 2).

Blackman's young adult novel of first love in a dangerous fictional dystopia depicts a volatile, racially segregated society where the British ruling class is black, rather than white.

"Before Noughts & Crosses, I'd never read a book about a young girl who was intelligent and powerful and was also a black British girl," says Heather.

"When I read books with a white protagonist, I didn't think about it that way...until I read this book and then lots of others followed.

"So it's an honour to be playing Sephy; it feels a privilege, but there's a pressure there as we want the play to be as impactful as the book."

Blackman's novel is now a GCSE set text, and Sabrina Mahfouz's adaptation for Pilot's co-production with York Theatre Royal,Coventry's Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Derby Theatre and Colchester's Mercury Theatre is bringing further attention to the story.

Heather and Billy Harris, who plays Sephy's lover across the divide, Callum, met Blackman at the outset of rehearsals. "We had lots of chats in the first week, which was really useful, and after that she left us to get on with it," she says.

Director Esther Richardson's production puts culture and class and manipulation of power in the spotlight. "It's complex because people born into privilege have nothing to fight for; they've just been given it, but Malorie's story is so powerful in showing a marginalised society,"says Heather. "I don't know anyone of colour who didn't grow up with racism being part of their life."

In Noughts & Crosses, Callum is a Nought, Sephy is a Cross, and in this parallel universe, people are divided into two types: Crosses, who are the ruling class, and Noughts, their underlings.

"Adults tell Noughts they're going to be up against it, and that happens in real life, where parents tell us, as a black person, you're going to experience racism, and that's why you build up resilience," says Heather. "So a lot of my artistic practice is built around gender, race and class."

She continues: "I just think people benefit from having privilege, and it's difficult to deconstruct that situation, but if you can find ways to empower yourself, you must do that. Being an actor is definitely my way of being empowered."

York Theatre Royal and Pilot Theatre present Noughts & Crosses, 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.