Hampton, Christopher James

Hampton, Christopher James (1946– ), English dramatist, whose first play When Did You Last See My Mother?, written while he was still an undergraduate, was seen in the West End in 1966 and in New York a year later. Hampton became resident dramatist at the Royal Court, 1968–70. His next play, Total Eclipse (1968), dealing with the relationship between Rimbaud and Verlaine, was followed by The Philanthropist (1970; NY, 1971), in which Alec McCowen played an amiable but dispirited don, whose good intentions are constantly defeated by stronger personalities. Savages (1973; NY, 1977), which starred Paul Scofield in London, is an ambitious non-naturalistic play about the kidnapping of a British diplomat by South American guerrillas. It was followed by the more conventional Treats (1976; NY, 1977). The Portage to San Cristobal of A. H. (1982), adapted from George Steiner's novel, and again starring McCowen, posits the discovery of Hitler in his nineties in a South American jungle; and Tales from Hollywood (National Theatre, 1983) the exile in Los Angeles of a group of European literary figures escaping from Hitler. His greatest success was Les Liaisons dangereuses, based on Laclos's epistolatory novel (RSC, 1985; Ambassadors, 1986; NY, 1987), which ran in London until 1990.

Hampton is also a notable translator of plays, including Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (both 1970); Ibsen's A Doll's House (1971), Molière's Don Juan (1972), and Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1979), the last two both seen at the National Theatre; and Molière's Tartuffe (RSC, 1983).

Hampton translated three plays by the Hungarian playwright and novelist Ödön von Horváth (1901–38), the first two being staged at the National Theatre. Tales from the Vienna Woods (1931; London, 1977), his best play, depicts a wartime love affair which evokes Viennese viciousness and degeneracy. Don Juan Comes Back from the War (1937; London, 1978) reinterprets the Don Juan story; while Faith, Hope, and Charity (London, 1989), about an unemployed young girl who commits suicide, was banned by the Nazis in 1933. Horváth's plays, written in short scenes in a vein of ironic humour, often in Viennese dialect, were virtually unperformed for several decades. He was the main character in Hampton's play Tales from Hollywood.