Review: CORAM BOY, Chichester Festival Theatre

Manuel Harlan

Coram Boy is in the tradition of large cast epic productions that have often filled Chichester’s wide open stage, and this production certainly looks good in the space. Anna Ledwich makes intelligent use of the depth of the stage and knows how to place her actors in this environment. The design by Simon Higlett enables rapid transition from one location to another, and the musical aspects of the production are fully realised under MD Stephen Higgins, ensuring the choral singing is as effective as it must be in this piece.

The hardworking cast create lively cameos and build relationships based on the short interactions that are portrayed, but Helen Edmundson’s adaptation has sections of dialogue that do not convince, and the narrative thread, especially in the first act, can be difficult to follow. As the author of the book, Jamila Gavin, has acknowledged, changes have to be made in dramatic adaptations. However, the speech in which Mrs Lynch berates her employers, an episode not in the book, seems both unconvincing and trite, despite a fine performance in the role from Jo McInnes.

Elsewhere, melodrama predominates too often, with a mostly young cast, several making their professional debut, sometimes struggling to give life and individual characterisation to the roles they have been given. Some of the dialogue seems quite plodding, which does not help. In particular, the mannered portrayal of children by older actors shrieking and rushing around the stage becomes wearying, particularly in the second act where they portray eight year olds.

Some of the more melodramatic characters in this most Gothic of tales are more successfully portrayed. Newcomer Aled Gomer is memorable as Meshak, and works well with the more experienced and suitably sinister Samuel Oatley as the Coram Man. Harry Gostelow gives a thoughtful and considered performance as Sir William, and Rhianna Dorris is a sympathetic and heartfelt Melissa.

In the second act the story becomes more clear as it focuses on two young men, Toby and Aaron. The latter is in many ways the core of the story, son of a slave and sold as a plaything for the rich and corrupt. When Aaron gets his almost Dickensian happy ending and is reunited with his parents, Toby is left alone, apart from the kindly concern of Melissa. The casting of Melissa and her mother, in a mostly non-diverse cast, may be an attempt to provide a more appropriate foster home for this boy, but dramatically it undercuts his isolation and role in society, despite the excellent performances by both actors. In reality, Toby would not have had such a resolution, and neither does he in the book.

Despite some reservations, this remains a mostly engrossing adaptation of an important book, with some glorious music and a large cast telling an important and much-loved story.

*** Three Stars

Reviewed by Chris Abbott

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