Production images and a trailer have been released for Anna Ledwich’s new production of Coram Boy, running at Chichester Festival Theatre from 24 May – 15 June and at The Lowry, Salford from 21 – 29 June.
Helen Edmundson’s adaptation of Jamila Gavin’s Whitbread Award-winning novel premiered at the National Theatre in 2005 before transferring to Broadway. Nominated for several Olivier and Tony Awards, it won the Time Out Live Award for Best Play.
The cast is: Will Antenbring (Alexander Ashbrook), Louisa Binder (Young Alexander/Aaron Dangerfield), Pandora Clifford (Lady Ashbrook/Mrs Hendry), Rhianna Dorris (Melissa Milcote/Angel), Holly Freeman (Isobel Ashbrook), Aled Gomer (Meshak Gardiner), Harry Gostelow (Sir William Ashbrook), Tallulah Greive (Alice Ashbrook), Rebecca Hayes (Young Thomas Ledbury), Tom Hier (Thomas Ledbury), Jewelle Hutchinson (Miss Price/Toby Gaddarn), Debbie Korley (Mrs Milcote), Milo McCarthy (Edward Ashbrook), Jo McInnes (Mrs Lynch), Samuel Oatley (Otis Gardiner/Philip Gaddarn) and James Staddon (Theodore Claymore/George Frederic Handel). They will be joined by an ensemble of 12 children.
Angels and abandoned children, glorious music and murder most foul whirl through this enthralling, moving and richly colourful tale of 18th-century England.
At Gloucester Cathedral, Alexander Ashbrook, heir to an aristocratic estate, has his heart set on becoming a composer; but his stern father refuses to listen and despite his love for the beautiful Melissa, flight seems his only option. Far darker conflicts are at play for Meshak, son of the brutal Otis Gardiner who preys on young unmarried mothers – promising to deliver their babies to Coram’s new Foundling Hospital but instead meting out a terrible fate.
Their stories entwine eight years later in London, where two Coram orphans, Toby and Aaron, find themselves on parallel adventures, and the great Handel is at work on a new score, Messiah, embodying the hope of love and salvation over evil.
Anna Ledwich was formerly a writer in residence at CFT (Pinocchio) and Artistic Director of Theatre on the Fly (2012); her recent directorial work includes Anthropology (Hampstead).
The designer is Simon Higlett, lighting designer Emma Chapman, composer and sound designer Max Pappenheim, musical director Stephen Higgins, movement director Chi-San Howard, fight and intimacy director Bethan Clark, casting director Annelie Powell CDG, and voice and dialect coach Joel Trill.
Coram Boy will run at The Lowry, Salford from 21 – 29 June, immediately following its Chichester run. For more information and tickets visit www.thelowry.com.
