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An entertaining and funny couple of hours about Lady Emma Hamilton, with mother/daughter casting providing a positive chemistry playing mother(s) and daughter(s).Summary
Rating
Good
Emma Hamilton seems to have been a bit of gossip columnist’s dream – but in the 1700s. She was a famous beauty who gained some notoriety after being the subject of many portraits, mistress to a couple of men, and then fobbed off by one of them to Naples, where she married Sir William Hamilton, some 34 years her senior. It is this period in Naples where we start in Act One.
Emma (Rose Quentin) is penning an over-the-top letter to Horatio Nelson who has just landed in Naples hot on the heels of a great military victory. Emma’s mother Mrs Cadogan (Caroline Quentin – also Rose Quentin’s mother) arrives at the end of a long an arduous journey having sorted out care for Emma’s illegitimate daughter. All she wants is wine – ‘The good stuff’ (she’ll know the difference), but instead she is drawn into arguments and discussion with Emma about her life and behaviour, with the occasional interruption by servant Vincenzo (Riad Richie). The background and personalities of the two women are revealed, including some secrets, and the Act ends with heavily pregnant Emma and Mrs Cadogan packing up for their move back to England.
Rose Quentin plays a beautiful, haughty and headstrong younger Emma. There is a bit of a spoilt child about her and she is obviously used to getting her own way. The occasional moment of hesitation, usually when her daughter is mentioned, hints at some insecurity but does not stop her from pursuing her goal: Nelson. Caroline Quentin is convincingly drab as Mrs Cadogan, carrying with her an air of defeated resignation. Having mother and daughter playing mother and daughter is an inspired choice, bringing a unique chemistry to the stage.
A shout out at this point for designer Fotini Dimou. The sumptuous rose gold boudoir of Act One is quickly and cleverly transformed into a dismal, brown raggedy barn for the second half, where an older Emma (now played by Caroline Quentin) and her daughter Horatia (Rose Quentin) are living in much straitened circumstances.
The mother/daughter combination of actors and characters returns successfully in Act Two, albeit in a role reversal. Caroline Quentin now continues as the older but still flamboyant and self-absorbed Emma who was introduced in the previous Act, in complete contrast to world weary Mrs Cadogan. Rose Quentin is a subdued and downtrodden Horatia displaying the occasional burst of spirit. Richie’s intermittent appearances as Italian servant or young French man are amusing but don’t really add a great deal.
This production is more of a flavour of Lady Emma Hamilton rather than an in depth exploration into an interesting woman with no formal education who became one of the most famous (that should probably be infamous) celebrities of her day. I left feeling a little dissatisfied and wanting to know more. It was still interesting though, and comical, with funny lines throughout, double entendres and a bit of dark humour. That, along with the excellent performances, makes it an enjoyable couple of hours.
Written by: April De Angelis
Directed by: Michael Oakley
Design by: Fotini Dimou
Infamous plays at Jermyn Street Theatre until 7 October. Further information and bookings can be found here.
