Afternoon:
14°c
NEW: Taxpayers have been handed a £143,000 bill for protecting BNP leader Nick Griffin during his appearance on Question Time, it has emerged
More...
An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Fiona Mountford's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Melly Still.
Cast: Sophie Bould, Bertie Carvel, Abby Ford, Ruth Gemmell, Akiya Henry, Rebecca Johnson, Stuart McLoughlin, Anna Madeley, Sharaon Maharaj, Katherine Manners, Eve Matheson, Justine Mitchell, Chetna Pandya, Paul Ritter
Description: Epic drama adapted by Helen Edmundson from Jamila Gavin's Whitbread award-winning novel, telling the tale of two male orphans, set in the heart of the 18th-century England.
Trains: Tube/BR: Waterloo 
Phone: 0207452 3000
Website: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=1541
Triumphant reunion: Aaron (Katherine Manners) and Toby (Debbie Korley) in Coram Boy
Fairytale beneficence mixed with Dickensian villains, ending with Christmas Carol-type uplift: the National, previously home to His Dark Materials, certainly knows how to spot a festive family hit.
Returning after a sell-out run last year, Helen Edmundson's adaptation of the Whitbread Award-winning children's book by Jamila Gavin is, largely, a Christmas cracker.
There's all sorts going on in Gavin's intelligent slice of mid-18th century life: child trafficking, the slave trade, Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital and the music of Handel, for starters.
But, as in all the best stories, scratch the surface to reveal a simple, universally resonating theme of families fractured and reunited, and love lost and found.
The concluding scenes, as a child given up for dead is revealed to be alive, reach an affective pitch unmatched on any other stage this December.
Melly Still's production, busy from the start with novel-compressing short, sharp bursts of action on an ever-moving revolve, attains transcendence. The onstage choir thrills us with excerpts from Handel's glorious Messiah.
Still doesn't have everything as beautifully worked as this, however. The first half, which sees the teenage Alexander Ashbrook abandon an oppressive aristocratic family to pursue his musical dreams, struggles to achieve emotional as well as physical momentum.
Katherine Manners - the choristers and Coram boys are all played by girls - fights a losing battle with the high notes in Alexander's singing, and generally wilts in comparison to Anna Madeley's spirited, sweet-voiced take on this role last year. How such a bloodless creature manages to impregnate Justine Mitchell's feisty Melissa is a puzzle.
The stench of blood hangs over Tim McMullan's marvellously sinister Otis Gardiner as he does away with babies bound for the Coram Hospital. Gardiner's hairstyle may be slicker by Act Two, but his heart is blacker than ever.
The adult Alexander, played by Bertie Carvel (and I question the logic of allotting this character two actors, while Mitchell continues straight through) has to muster some gumption to challenge him. Take a thoughtful older child, a fond grandparent and a large hankie.
• In rep until 22 Feb (020 7452 3000).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
[ 1 ] [ 2 ]
This is a superb production to go and see, the use of live music throughout the show has added a whole new dimension and created a unique theatrical experience for young and old audience members.
This kind of experience is one that could only be created by the magic of theatre. This is the National at its best.
- Jacque Hill, Croxley Green
