April De Angelis’s forte is writing about misunderstood (or perhaps misremembered) women, all one step ahead of the time in which they lived. Relatively recent examples include the fiery female leads in her fine stage adaptation of My Brilliant Friend and a playful reworking of the life story of the fictional sex worker Fanny Hill. The latest in a long line of blazing woman – whose most attractive qualities often end up tearing them down – is the “infamous” Emma Hamilton. Daughter of a blacksmith, she was a muse to many and, most memorably of all, long-term mistress of Lord Nelson.
The hook in Michael Oakley’s production is the casting of mother and daughter Caroline Quentin and Rose Quentin, who play Hamilton at different stages in her life. The first act unfolds in a gold-lined drawing room, where Hamilton (Rose Quentin) is living a luxurious life with her rich husband, a British ambassador. The couple have been stationed in Naples: Mount Vesuvius smoulders in the distance and a doomed love affair with Lord Nelson beckons. Hamilton’s mother (a straight-talking Caroline Quentin) has come along for the ride and matches her daughter’s every excitable squeal with a knowing and weary sigh.
