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A Song for Ella Grey

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A Song for Ella Grey

Paperback

$22.95

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Paperback
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Available for Pre-Order. This item will be released on August 26, 2025
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Overview

Ella Grey and her friends are ordinary kids from ordinary families in an ordinary world. They fall in and out of love, play music, 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, entrancing them all, but particularly Ella. Where have they come from and what path will Ella follow?

A Song for Ella Grey is a version of the myth of Orpheus that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death. Zoe Cooper's stage adaptation of David Almond's award-winning novel was first produced in 2024 by Pilot Theatre, in association with Northern Stage and York Theatre Royal.

This edition includes the full text of the play along with a range of teaching materials and resources designed to help educators bring the play to life for their students.

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839043246
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

David Almond is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults, including Skellig (1998), The Fire-Eaters (2003), Clay (2005) and A Song for Ella Grey (2014).

Zoe Cooper is a playwright whose work includes: A Song for Ella Grey, adapted from the novel by David Almond (Pilot Theatre, 2024); Northanger Abbey after Jane Austen (Orange Tree Theatre Richmond, Octagon Theatre Bolton, Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough & Theatre by the Lake, 2024); The Kiss (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, part of the Inside/Outside season of short plays, 2021); Out of Water (Orange Tree Theatre, 2019, in association with the RSC; a finalist in the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards 2019); and Jess and Joe Forever (Orange Tree Theatre, 2017, followed by UK tour; winner of the Most Promising Playwright Award at the Off West End Awards 2017; longlisted for the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award).

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Editorial Reviews

Soulful and imaginative... admirably answers the questions posed by David Almond's novel... timeless, fractured and haunting.” —Guardian
“A stylish and seductive retelling of the Orpheus myth... Lacing its dreamy mysticism with sharp humor, Zoe Cooper's clever adaptation captures the raw intensity not just of first love, but of all the complex bonds of youth... a refreshing take on a classic that feels both immediate and timeless.” —The Stage
“Conveys the poetic mystery of [the novel] extraordinarily well... the combination of other worlds and down-to-earth Sixth Form life is irresistible.” —Reviews Hub

From the Publisher

★ 07/27/2015
Almond (The Tightrope Walkers) gracefully interfuses ancient archetypes with contemporary situations in this retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Set in northern England—a landscape familiar to Almond’s fans—the novel is told from the point of view of Claire, a restless high school student, whose dreams and imagination reach beyond the confines of her cold, dreary surroundings. “I wanted to experience that thing of being just me, moving on my own across the earth,” she laments. During a much-anticipated trip to the beach with some close friends, Claire is enchanted by Orpheus, a wandering musician whose beauty and skills with the lyre seem otherworldly. When Claire’s best friend Ella instantly falls in love with this stranger, Claire has misgivings; after it becomes apparent that Orpheus is just as smitten with Ella, Claire agrees to help them secretly elope, not knowing the height of wonder and depth of despair that will follow. Like Orpheus’s music, Almond’s lyrical narrative will sweep readers on a journey to unearthly, mysterious realms and back. Mythological characters come to life while remaining enigmatic enough to set imaginations spinning. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—An innovative and dreamlike retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in modern-day Tyneside and Northumberland and told in Almond's lyrical, distinctive prose. Narrator Claire has a passionate relationship with Ella, whom she has known since they were five years old. They are part of a "beautiful friendship group" of like-minded teenagers who gather to share their dreams and artistic efforts. When the mysterious musician Orpheus appears on the beach, the teens, as well as all the local wildlife, are enchanted by his weird and lovely music, but the one most enamored of Orpheus and his music is Ella, who hears him over Claire's cell phone. Ella and Orpheus fall in love and marry, but Ella dies of a snakebite on their wedding day. The novel follows the original myth fairly closely as Orpheus goes through river gates into an underworld where he encounters monsters and the rulers of the underworld. This is an impressive update of this often retold story, with artsy teenage characters and a lovingly detailed Northumbrian setting. Some parts, such as Orpheus's death at the hands of crazed women emerging from the sea and references to his male lovers, will resonate more strongly with readers familiar with the original myth. VERDICT Teen readers of a literary bent and mythology enthusiasts will love this latest work from Almond.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

School Library Journal

2015-07-27
Award-winning British novelist Almond (Kit's Wilderness, 1999; The Fire-Eaters, 2004, etc.) mines the tragic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in this modern-day love story, told in the voice of Claire Wilkinson, a 17-year-old poet. Claire loves her childhood friend Ella Grey, and they are "young and bright and free" with their kisses and sleepovers until…"Ha!" Everything changes one spring day when Claire encounters Orpheus, a wild, black-haired, lyre-playing wanderer in a purple coat and Doc Martens, on Northumberland's Bamburgh Beach. Claire calls Ella on her cellphone from the boozy bacchanalian beach party so her friend can hear the mesmerizing songs that Orpheus plays, enchanting the dolphins, the sea, even the pebbles and sand…and soon wishes she hadn't. When Orpheus sings for Ella Grey, she falls madly in love with him, sight unseen. "Go to Hell, Orpheus," Claire whispers. The rest of the tale mirrors the myth: Ella and Orpheus marry, Ella dies by snakebite, and Orpheus enters the beastly Underworld to rescue her from Death, a section of the book effectively distinguished by black paper with white type. Almond brings his hypnotic lyricism to this darkly romantic tale that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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