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CORAM BOY
adapted by Helen Edmundson from the novel by Jamila Gavin
Directed by Melly Still
at Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre
South Bank, London SE1
Call +44 (0) 20 7452 3000 Tickets £10 - £36
Mon – Thurs, Sat 7.30pm; Wed Mats 2.15pm
Running time 2 hours 50 mins with intermission
In Repertoire through February, 2006
Epic Soap
The Coram man collects babies for the Coram Foundling Hospital. The mother pays a lot of money for the baby’s keep and for reports of its welfare. Trouble is, the Coram man kills the babies and pockets the money. Hideous, but true. The city of London in 1739 was littered with abandoned babies’ corpses.
But when the Coram Man, played with a demonic, efficient greed by Paul Ritter is given an aristocratic family’s illegitimate child, the baby escapes death, courtesy of the Coram man’s simpleton son, the feral, confused Meshak of Jack Tarlton, who actually delivers him to the Coram Hospital. We have seen this coming. Attach to this the rather tired story of the prodigal son, Alexander Ashbrook, unwitting father of the baby, cast out because he wanted to pursue a career in music (shudder) and all the ingredients for a few episodes of Dynasty are there.
The pitiful background of London’s foundlings actually looks like a contrivance on which to hang the story of the return of the son and then the grandson, who has thrived at the Coram Hospital, and who, at the age of 8 returns, looking identical to the fifteen year old he has replaced, and with the same voice of an angel. The expulsion from his ancestral home of the grown up Alexander comes after a wonderfully attractive and honest performance, beautifully sung, and a pleasure to watch, by Anna Madeley as the young Alexander, a performance not matched by his older ego, Bertie Carvel, however. As Sir William Ashbrook, William Scott-Masson actually sounded out of place, but on the whole, the landed gentry sounded more comfortable in their roles than the poor, whose poverty itself seemed caricatured at times.
Appearing again, in the guise of an aristocratic employer of the young black boy from Coram (a gorgeous performance from young Akiya Henry) the pleasingly slimy Paul Ritter again excels, although his adopted accent sounded a little too plausible.
The musical element – the work of Handel (a fine performance by Nicholas Tizzard) and his magnificent Messiah, thrillingly sung, are harnessed to the cause, but that too, seems like a contrivance.
To the 23 actors, add a choir of 25 and 7 orchestra. Now factor in the non stop use of the huge stage, with much running around the circumference of the revolve by Meshak and others, a flying angel, a lot of clumsy stage fighting, a vast underwater scene, with swimmers (flying too) and you have what looks like an epic adventure story. In fact it relies on the sad truth behind Thomas Coram’s fight for his foundling hospital, and a manipulated reunion of mother, father, son, grandson, and girlfriend.
The component parts of the story would seem to need a 6 hour epic of Nicholas Nickleby proportions to work, with more than just a few good performances, otherwise the sweep of the storyline and the majesty of the Olivier all look just a little too convenient.
Recommended
Saul Reichlin
London correspondent
Chicago Stage Talk Radio Show
www.ChicagoCritic.com
Thursday 17 Nov 2005
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