STAGE REVIEWDARK material was handled with ease by students of Ryde School last week, in their production of Coram Boy, a play which combined music with the macabre to deliver a fast-paced story rich in 18th century motifs and believable characters.
The play, directed by Tim Bull, centred around the slaughter of infants who had been taken by traffickers on the pretence of delivering them to Coram Hospital and was performed by students aged between 12 and 18.
A superb cast was headed by Joel Fitzpatrick and Ieuan Perkins, this year’s winner of the Jeremy Irons Award at the County Press Amateur Theatre Awards.
The interaction between the boys was outstanding throughout, and their comic touches were the perfect answer to the sinister Otis Gardner, played by George Henderson.
Jordan Langshaw was a convincing double-agent as Mrs Lynch, her bitter asides and sly manoeuvres worthy of any period drama.
Jessica Griffiths, delightful as Alice Ashbrook, was given several opportunities to use her beautiful singing voice, and the choir tackled challenging 18th century music with ease.
One of the youngest cast members, 13-year-old Tom Ayling, gave a sturdy performance in a difficult role as Meshaik, the tormented young man whose demons are revealed in disjointed monologues.
The cleverly constructed stage ran through the centre of the audience and the cast expertly used the space to portray the differences in class, allegiance and location, a technique supplemented by the use of backlighting for scenes that were harder to stage.
Congratulations to all students and staff of Ryde School on their hard work in this production. It paid off in what was yet another theatrical triumph.