Coram Boy

by Helen Edmundson, Jamila Gavin (Source Material)

Set in the eighteenth century, Coram Boy is a tale of two cities and a tale of two boys: Toby, saved from an African slave ship, and Aaron, the illegitimate heir to a great estate. It’s also a tale of fathers and sons: slave-trader, Otis, and his son Meshak; and landowner Sir William Ashbrook and the son he disinherits.

Genres: Plays

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2007

About the author

Helen Edmundson is a British playwright and screenwriter. She has won awards and critical acclaim both for her original writing and for her adaptations of various literary classics for the stage and screen.

Edmundson was born in Liverpool, in 1964. Most of her childhood was spent on the Wirral and in Chester. She studied Drama at Manchester University.

Reviews

[Parissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, so I didn't actually read this play-- I saw it onstage at the National Theatre in London. But, it was the most original, emotional, and surprisingly theatrical experiences of my life. Also, my theatre class got to have a discussion with Helen Edmundson about her script-- cool stuff!

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review Here

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly, this review is based on seeing the National Theatre's film of its own 2005 production, so not all points hold for the script itself.

The story plots the 18th Century lives of two boys and their obsession with one girl. One is the heir to a country estate who wants to devote his life to music instead; the other is the son of a thoroughly nasty character who takes money from unmarried mothers to send their babies to the Coram foundlings institution but then murders the children and pockets the cash. Not a nice man.

It's a compelling story, let down slightly by the failure of the two storylines to weave together. The National's production was let down by the intrusiveness of the music, which often drowned out the dialogue and is so prevalent that the show was practically an opera. It's other main failing was the cast, or possibly the director, who seemed to confuse running around, shrieking constantly and falling over with the more subtle art known as 'acting'.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

angel child.

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspenseful

It got me hooked from the very beginning. I love the adaptation from the book. It was very clear and easy to understand

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is intensely melodramatic, but I bet it stages great.

[scarlett oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

i definitely made the right decision reading the book first and spotting all the little changes hehhe

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the play but the script is not great.

[Kayleigh Marie Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written but not very memorable for me, but this isn't my preferred type of play so I'm not the best judge.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of this play before September just gone, but I'm glad I took a chance on it. It was tempting to read a synopsis of the plot beforehand, what with the multitude of characters, but I think that would have been a mistake. The plot was quite complex but it was easier to grasp when encountering it for the first time without any foreknowledge of the novel. I'll need to sit back and give the play some thought and contemplate the themes but I can safely say that I enjoyed this particular bit of fiction. One to keep an eye out for in terms of performances I think. It'd be amazing to see 'Coram Boy' performed on stage.

[Duncan Hendry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is sensational. Does anyone have a big enough stage and a big enough budget to revive it? Probably only the National again. But please, please, please, do yourself a favour: don't read the blurb. It gives away too much, which is annoying if you do that to find out simple set up about the play (you know what a blurb does). Anyway, this adaptation is a modern masterpiece of what is possible in theatre.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4 - Classical Serial:
Jamila Gavin's dramatization of her own novel, which tells the story of two orphans at the Coram Hospital for Deserted Children in mid-18th century England.

[Brian McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic melodrama in the spirit of NICHOLAS NICKLEBY. I had tickets for this in Bdway, but it closed early. Would be a wonderful show for students — both high school and college — with an innovative director.

[Afshan · Rating 5 out of 5]

it looks really interesting I have to read it

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

An epic about human trafficking that I started yesterday has just become horrifically timely today. Very much an Olivier play, but a really good example of one. Somewhat unbalanced between the two acts, but it takes on an ambitious amount of material.