Coram Boy, The Lowry - Salford, Review

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Fri 21 Jun 2024 - Sat 29 Jun 2024

Coram Boy is not an opera or musical but a play with live music woven through it.

The title refers to the Foundling Hospital set up by sea captain Thomas Coram, in 1739, as a home for babies whose mothers were unable to care for them.

Thomas Ledbury (Rebecca Hayes) is a musically gifted youth, who has not been bequeathed much, apart from a bawdy sailors song or two, from his ship’s carpenter father and the musical talent to win a scholarship to Gloucester Cathedral school.

He is bullied at first but he wins his tormentor's round, with the help of the aforementioned songs.

The songs do not go down so well with Alexander Ashbrook (Louisa Binder), whose imperious manner is in proportion to his family's estate and status.

Louisa Binder (Young Alexander) and Rebecca Hayes (Young Thomas) in Coram Boy at Chichester Festival Theatre. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

Despite the social differences, Alexander becomes a friend and mentor to Thomas, who is invited to the family home, where Thomas cannot believe that anyone could be unhappy in such a grand place.

Alexander's mother (Pandora Clifford) wishes to set up her own orphanage and so Thomas is a charming ‘poor boy’ she can show off to her husband (Harry Gostelow), who is not so keen on the philanthropic plan.

Sir William is not pleased either by Alexander's life passion as a career choice and orders all musical instruments to be banished from the house.

Alexander conceives a child with his young love, Melissa Milcote (Rhianna Dorris), the daughter of the governess. The second half of the evening was set up to follow the mystery of what happens to this child.



The malign presence of those who pretend to have the best interests of children at heart became more apparent and more foreboding, as the action unfolded.

On a more harmonious note, George Frideric Handel (James Staddon) appeared on the scene. He famously donated proceeds from performances of his blockbuster Messiah to the Foundling Hospital, including completion of the Hospital Chapel, where he continued to perform the Messiah for the rest of his life. He left in his will a fair copy of the score to the governors.

We saw him rehearsing for a Christmas performance at the hospital, with the children singing their hearts out in the chorus.

The set design (Simon Higlett) made the most of The Lyric stage at the Lowry - the production was previously staged at Chichester Festival Theatre. The play started its life at the National Theatre in 2005, before transferring to Broadway.

The murky survive-or-die atmosphere of London and Gloucester docks was darkly and atmospherically evoked by the use of stage lighting by Emma Chapman and tonal changes by composer and sound designer, Max Pappenheim.

Aled Gomer (Meshak Gardiner) in Coram Boy at Chichester Festival Theatre. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

There was a chamber music ensemble on the on-stage balcony, providing a live soundtrack throughout the proceedings.

It was a very busy stage, with multiple characters and lots of entrances and exits. This, along with the costume design, made for a visual feast. But it also made it hard to develop too much empathy for the core characters and, as a consequence, to care enough about what happened to them.

I have not read the children's novel by Jamila Gavin, on which Helen Edmundson's script was based, but the translation from prose to play put a lot of weight on the dialogue, to convey the exposition and character development. It was a big challenge to condense such a wide-ranging story into something with real theatrical dynamism.

I felt that an episodic structure, such as a TV drama, would have allowed each strand of the multi-faceted story to get the close-up attention it needed.

More generally, Coram Boy reminds us that English history is full of hidden stories which deserve to be brought into the light, despite the uncomfortable truths they might reveal in our country's DNA and exploitation of the poor and powerless.

Coram Boy @the_lowry
By Helen Edmundson
Based on the novel by Jamila Gavin

For more information, including tickets click here.

Approximately 2 hours 55 minutes, including an interval.


Lowry Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ
Box Office: 0161 876 2000
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