Infamous

Reviews of Infamous

A play by April De Angelis

London: Faber and Faber Ltd, with Jermyn Street Theatre, 2023

Above: Infamous’s publicity image, courtesy of .jermynstreettheatre.co.uk/show/infamous/

1) Stephen Howarth, originally published in the Kedge Anchor

Seeing one of the world premiere performances of INFAMOUS at the Jermyn Street Theatre was for me a wonderful combination of my loves for live theatre and naval history. Starring Caroline Quentin and her daughter Rose Quentin, this new play by April De Angelis portrays Nelson's great love Emma, Lady Hamilton, in two marvellously given and horribly contrasting stages of Emma's life: in 1798, just before she threw herself (literally) onto Nelson, the brand-new Hero of the Nile, and in 1815, ten years after his death, when she and their beloved but illegitimate daughter Horatia were destitute in Calais. The play worked well for me in my dual capacities: it was both historically correct enough and dramatically enfolding. Meeting Caroline and Rose afterwards was a considerable bonus.

The venue deserves description. The Jermyn Street Theatre (London’s smallest theatre) is externally so unobtrusive that unlike most theatres, one could easily walk past its entrance without noticing. Its entrance is down a flight of stairs to a suite of basement rooms, formerly the staff changing rooms of a restaurant that used to be at street level, and it seats only 70. The negative is that the theatre is entirely wheelchair-inaccessible. The positive is that no one in the audience is more than four rows from the action.

This gives an unusual intimacy to the whole experience. No need for normal discourse to be loud, but simply to be clear; and every nuance of expression, whether vocal, facial, or physical, is immediate. Directed by Michael Oakley, the genuine mother and daughter casting is ingenious. In the first act Caroline plays Mrs Cadogan, Emma’s earthy pragmatic mother, and Rose plays Emma, risen from prostitution to be the wife of an ambassador, and with a very definite eye on her next conquest. In the second act, 17 years later, Caroline plays the widowed Emma, betrayed by the establishment, defeated by everything but still drunkenly believing in herself, and Rose plays teenage Horatia, angry, sceptical, wistful, impatient.

The two women thus cover three generations, and to my theatre-loving naval historical mind and eye, they do so with complete credibility. We know what Mrs Cadogan looked like and what Emma looked like in her glory, and the Quentins really recreate those women – and, although speaking in modern English, they sound true as well. We do not know the appearance of the older Emma because by then no one wanted to paint her, and there is no image of Horatia at this time. But again, both Caroline and Rose give credible, painful reality.

The third member of the cast, Riad Richie, plays firstly an Italian servant besotted with Emma, and secondly a young Frenchman, son of the Mayor whose cowshed they are renting, and who teaches Horatia to dance. In both acts he provides a valuable third party, so that the play is more than an interchange in a two-hander; and in the interval, he transforms the simple, clever staging from Palazzo to barn, while apologising to the audience. This, in the words of one jaded professional reviewer, evoked many ‘Ooohs’ and ‘Aaahs’. But that proximity is part of the charm of the venue, and with its two splendid leads this was a production I count myself lucky to have seen.

2) Peta Masters

Infamous – an alternative perspective

I also attended April De Angelis’s INFAMOUS at Jermyn Street in September but my experience and impressions were rather different from Stephen’s.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a clever idea, effectively a two-hander for real-life mother and daughter Caroline and Rose Quentin, with Riad Richie popping up from time to time as light relief. In Act I – set in Naples just as Nelson and Emma’s affair is getting under way - Rose plays Emma in her heyday and Caroline plays her mother, Mrs Cadogan. In Act II, we’re in Calais with Nelson long dead and Emma catastrophically past her prime. Now Caroline is Emma and Rose her daughter, Horatia: the mother/daughter switch makes for a delightful and satisfying twist.

So it's entertaining, as far as it goes, the Attitudes are beautifully carried off, and the venue, it’s true, is a fun place to see anything at all. But for anyone with an interest in rehabilitating the reputation of Emma Hamilton, this play - and the way it is performed – are not useful. This is a production which, in my view, reinforces all the received stereotypes.

Emma is characterised (I don’t think I’m overstating it) as a scheming harlot. Her mother, meanwhile, wouldn’t be out of place in Little Britain. There is some scope in the play, as written, for Emma to begin as a chancer but then genuinely to fall in love but the performances don’t go there. Then again, given the times we are living in, you might expect the writing to offer some insight into the notion of celebrity for celebrity’s sake, especially since that seems to be what this Emma is going for. But the production is shallow and insight is not the name of the game.

Like Stephen, I’m pleased that I saw INFAMOUS at Jermyn Street. But if you’re looking to understand Emma Hamilton or for an unorthodox or sympathetic reading of her character, I would not recommend it.