Adapted by Helen Edmundson from the novel by Jamila Gavin.
Directed by Melly Still.
Coram Boy tells the tale of two orphans at the Coram Hospital for Deserted Children: Toby, saved from an African slave ship and Aaron, the abandoned son of the heir to a great estate. A story of fathers and sons, set in the dark heart of 18th-century England, Coram Boy is filled with danger and excitement.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"But I have to confess that “Coram Boy,” first produced at the National Theater in London in 2005, to much acclaim, inspired more dutiful appreciation than passionate excitement in this viewer. Big and broad, for sure, the play is anything but deep."
Read the whole review HERE.
VARIETY:
" In these days of modest two-character, single-set dramas, that scope is undeniably impressive. Pity there's not a more persuasive play attached. Instead, this adaptation by Helen Edmundson of Jamila Gavin's novel is self-important staged literature."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK POST:
"There is a lot of stuff in "Coram Boy" - scenery, a church organ, Handel and Handelish music, 40 actors, 20 choristers, 7 musicians, 20 producers. But as for a play . . . that requires a search, for rarely has so much stuff - some of it grisly, even ghostly, and all of it dour - produced so little."
Read the whole review HERE.
THEATERMANIA:
"...none of them reaches the level of gloriousness. Sadly, nothing in Coram Boy -- with the exception of reiterated excerpts from Handel's always glorious Messiah -- does. As a result, this show is no longer the kind of must-see event it was across the pond. "
Read the whole review HERE.
NEWSDAY:
"Marketed for audiences over 12, Melly Still's production seems too moody and complicated for teenagers, and too dull for the rest of us."
Read the whole review HERE.
TIME OUT NY:
"A galloping good story well told in a pure theatrical style: It’s enough to turn you into a wonder-struck kid all over again."
Read the whole review HERE |
