An enjoyable production of a classic, with chic 1930’s costumes and lots of laughs alongside Shaw’s deeper moral questions.
Content Notes: This play includes discussions of sex work, and prop firearms onstage.
George Bernard Shaw’s 1893 play Mrs. Warren’s Profession was so incendiary that the cast of the first public performance in 1905 was arrested midway through the show. The Shaw-focused company Shaw2020 performs this controversial exploration of ethics and blame, as the independent but privileged Vivie Warren is forced to question everything she knows when her mysterious mother, Mrs. Kitty Warren, comes to visit. Over the course of the play, Shaw asks whether choices made in desperation can be forgiven, and whether the end always justifies the means.
For this production, director and actor Jonas Cemm brings the story forward a few decades to land in the 1930’s. This shift adds a bit more modern glamour to the costumes, although much of the cast seemed to give relatively timeless performances which wouldn’t have been out of place in the original setting. The change does free Vivie even more from turn-of-the-century social norms, as Bethany Blake brings a bold, brash energy to her performance which is well-suited to the updated era, but Vivie is already a strikingly modern character even by Edwardian standards. Laura Fitzpatrick plays Kitty Warren with a saccharine air of feigned innocence, resulting in a slightly less frightening character than in other stagings. Regardless, Fitzpatrick has a very compelling stage presence, and her Mrs. Warren effortlessly commands any room she enters. Joe Sargent plays Frank Gardner, Vivie’s paramour, and brings a cheeky comic energy to the first half of the show, and a debonair thoughtfulness to the later acts as Frank is forced to confront more serious topics. The show is rounded out by director Jonas Cemm, who is suitably unctuous as the corrupt Sir George Crofts, Karl Moffatt, who is endearing as the artistically-minded Mr. Praed, and Anthony Wise, who is charming as the often-bewildered Reverend Gardner. Wise and Sargent bring an especially jolly dynamic to the production as their scenes pit Frank’s teasing against his father’s efforts to corral him.
Much of the technical side of the production was well-suited to the show, with toe-tapping 30’s tunes, and some delightful scene change antics. There were brief moments in which the 30’s hats cast several actors’ faces into shadow, however, and some scenes in which characters were seated with their backs to the audience, which somewhat reduced the impact of the staging.
Overall, this production seems to portray Mrs. Warren as a slightly more sympathetic character than some others do. The cuts made to certain lines and stage directions also shifted some of the focus away from Vivie’s relationship with Frank and her own independence (particularly in the ending scene), leaving a much greater emphasis on her relationship with her mother. Nevertheless, this cast successfully navigates the shifts between the play’s witty humour and its darker ethical questions, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable show.
Mrs. Warren’s Profession is running from 16-20 July at the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley, and will run at several other theatres in and around London in July and August, including Shaw’s Corner in Welwyn.