Victoria's reign: a new play exposes royal control

The carefully constructed myth of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s idyllic marriage is undergoing a sharp revision, thanks to a new play currently running at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury. Far from a picture of domestic bliss, the production, adapted from Daisy Goodwin’s novel, suggests a relationship increasingly defined by Albert’s subtle, yet pervasive, control – a dynamic that challenges our contemporary expectations of royal behavior.

A queen's quiet rebellion

Amanda Boxer delivers a compelling performance as Victoria, portraying a monarch initially fretful and self-pitying, a “poor widow” wrestling with the burdens of her crown. The play, set toward the twilight of Victoria’s reign, uses a striking, distorted ceiling design to visually represent the unreliable nature of memory. Victoria’s own diaries, presented as the sole repository of her true feelings, become a central plot device. But the question posed by the production is a pointed one: could she ever truly be honest when Albert, it’s implied, routinely peeked at those very pages?

The early scenes, vibrant with youthful energy, depict a spirited Victoria, brilliantly played by Jessica Rhodes, waltzing with a younger Albert. However, the narrative quickly shifts. Rowan Polonski’s Albert isn't portrayed as a benevolent reformer, but rather as an ambitious figure determined to mold his wife’s character and stifle her joy. He increasingly inserts himself into her royal duties, drafting speeches, overseeing tours of industrial Britain, and, as his frustrated wife wryly observes,