The Nottingham Playhouse, home to the creative team behind Helen Edmundson’s Coram Boy, was recently awarded The Stage’s Regional Theatre of the Year award, and audiences could see why with this first-class production based on the novel by Jamila Gavin.

Coram Boy is set in the eighteenth century and based around Thomas Coram’s famed hospital in London. After returning to England after years spent as a sea captain, Coram was astonished by the hundreds of abandoned, ill and destitute children on London’s streets. Coram petitioned the King for seventeen years before a royal charter was finally granted for his Foundling Hospital in 1739. Located in Bloomsbury, the hospital opened in 1741 with the aim of giving children not only a safe place to stay, but also healthcare, education and healthy food.

Upon entering Nottingham’s Albert Hall, the first thing audience members see is the magnificent Binn’s Organ, which dominates the stage space. The second is a tree – not a sapling, but a fully-grown tree – the size of which emphasises the huge scale of this production, which features over seventy performers. However, this version of Coram Boy comes with a twist: only two professional actors are in the company, whilst the other actors on stage are members of the Nottinghamshire community. A range of ages, abilities and professions, from chartered accountants to school children have combined their talents to create a powerful and energetic ‘community chorus’, all directed impeccably by Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director, Adam Penford.

The play itself begins by following the life of Alexander Ashbrook, heir to a large estate, who is studying music at Gloucester Cathedral. His father, Sir William, does not wish Alexander to continue studying music after his voice breaks, as Alexander needs to learn the duties required as his son. With the assistance of his similarly musically-gifted friend, the impoverished Thomas Ledbury, Alexander writes a piece of music for his mother’s birthday, inspired by Handel, whom he has been studying at the cathedral. Of course, as Alexander performs the piece his voice breaks, causing his father to banish musical instruments from the house and send Thomas back to school in an attempt to make Alexander bow to his will.

But this is not a simple story of teenage angst. There is a much darker side to Coram Boy, where the children face difficult and upsetting events. While Alexander decides to run away from his father, he also leaves his cousin, Melissa, pregnant with his illegitimate child. This is where the sinister Coram Man comes in, who, for a fee, promises to take away unwanted children ‘to the Coram Hospital’, but instead buries these infants alive in the woods. Melissa and Alexander’s child, Aaron, is due to receive the same fate, but Meshak, the Coram Man’s son, decides to save him and they run away together – ultimately ending up at the actual Coram Hospital. The second half of the play is equally full of twists and turns, with the large cast being utilised to play the hapless children of the Coram Hospital who are exploited into slavery by one of the Coram Hospital’s unscrupulous patrons, Phillip Gaddarn. He tells the Hospital that he will give the children a better life, but instead sends them straight onto slave ships. In the midst of all this misery, it is hard to see how this play could end cheerily – but it does have a happy(ish) ending.

With around sixty-five scenes, director Penford himself admits it is a challenge to keep the production ‘fluid and snappy’ as the play is closer to a screenplay than a conventional theatrical production. Although occasionally overwhelming when all of the characters are onstage at once (it’s hard to know where to look), the cast of the play were outstanding. Particularly memorable performances include community players Karr Kennedy and Harry Pavlou who shared the leading role of Alexander Ashbrook to represent his younger and older self; Kevin Brown as a commanding Sir William Ashbrook; and Amanda Pearce as Mrs Lynch, the treacherous, but ultimately heroic, housekeeper of the Ashbrook family. Professional actor Tim Samuels played the sinister Coram Man, Otis Gardiner, with a sense of menace which culminated in the shocking denouement of the second act. When Alexander realises his apprentice Aaron is his son, it is almost too late to save him, as Aaron and his guardian Meshak have been spirited away by the sinister patron Phillip Gaddarn. Fortunately, the play ends with Melissa, Alexander and Aaron reunited, but the fate of Gardiner, after he shoots and murders his own son Meshak, is left unknown.

While the dramatic story and huge cast take centre stage, the music is also worthy of note. As the core of the play, the voices of the choir, made up of thirty-five members of the community chorus, combined with the organ expertly played by Nottingham City Organist, John Keys, filled the Albert Hall and truly brought the scenes to life. Nottingham Cathedral’s Director of Music, Alex Patterson, ensured that the beautiful words of Handel were sung flawlessly by the chorus. Handel features prominently in the play not just because of his music, but because he played a key role in the continued success of the Foundling Hospital. He staged a concert of Messiah there in 1749, in order to raise money for the Hospital’s chapel. This was a practice he continued annually until his death, leaving the children of the Coram Hospital inspired by the music, which became a large part of their education, and allowed many to have prestigious careers in Army and Navy bands.

This production is an outstanding achievement for the Nottingham Playhouse, which has not only brought a community together and attracted diverse audiences, but also created an engaging, dynamic and fast-paced production. Innovative in its transformation of the Albert Hall from concert venue to theatre, and in turning a disparate group of actors into a cohesive community chorus, Penford, his cast, and creative team should be thoroughly proud of what they have achieved. Set in the 1700s, with the costumes and set reflecting the period, the play successfully brings to the fore key issues of the eighteenth century, such as class, gender, slavery, and child abuse. But it also holds up a mirror to today’s society through the insightful exploration of these issues, as the youth of the child actors and the outstanding acting from all ensured the action within the play felt real – making the topics of child abuse, racism and class even more poignant.

Coram’s Foundling Hospital only closed in the 1950s after helping over 25,000 children since its conception. Its work is continued by the Coram children’s charity who work with vulnerable children and young people, continuing Thomas Coram’s valuable legacy.

Coram Boy, adapted by Helen Edmundson from a novel by Jamila Gavin, was performed at the Albert Hall, Nottingham, from 7 to 10 August 2019. It was first performed at the National Theatre in 2005.