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Mrs. Warren's Profession review

Mrs. Warren's Profession is a play that centres around Kitty Warren and her daughter Vivie. Vivie is ambitious, and the production follows her foray into independence, while learning the truth about how she came to have such a fortunate upbringing: her mother's prostitution and pimping. This production is directed by Dominic Cooke, reuniting with Imelda Staunton after striking gold with his revival of Hello, Dolly!.

Bessie Carter, playing the role of Vivie Warren, is by far the stand out cast member. Carter out acts all those she shares the stage with. It is the kind of performance that makes you unable to imagine anyone else in the role. The nature of the play (or at least this revival) very much places Vivie as the main character. 

Imelda Staunton plays the role of Kitty Warren, performing alongside Carter - who is both her on and off-stage daughter. Staunton's performance is good, but not significant. I like the accent work, which straddles received pronunciation and estuary English. It acts as this constant reminder that she has had to forge her own path into the upper-classes, rather than simply be born into aristocracy. Broadly speaking though, I do not feel that the role gives her the space to really put in the kind of brilliant performances she is more than capable of. The rest of the cast are seemingly just there, nothing to write home about. That said, the nature of the play is such that the focus is on the themes and the problems of the play rather than about highly developed characters. 

The set is uniquely beautiful, blending both contemporary and period elements in a way reminiscent of the final scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I like how Mrs. Warren's "employees" (lingerie-clad young women) are the those who rearrange the set. There is this suggestion that the dark origins of the money that are facilitating her lifestyle are inescapable, even when she inevitably goes her own way. Vivie's privileged upbring and subsequent success is built on her mother's sacrifices and/or immorality. I also like this idea that a beautiful garden is progressively stripped away as she learns more of how her mother came to be wealthy.

Many have said that the original themes of the play still feel so relevant, and I am not sure this is quite accurate. Perhaps this is my misinterpretation, but I garnered the impression that this was being billed as a "feminist" play. A play about the struggle of a woman to overcome barriers, even if it means being looked down upon by society. For me however, Mrs. Warren's Profession reads in the modern day as a play more about the ethics of consumption under capitalism, the misconceptions of meritocracy, parental sacrifice, and the strained family dynamic arising where morals differ across generations. Prostitution in the modern day acts more as a metaphor, both for undesirable work as a way to escape poverty, but far more so as the product of predatory entrepreneurship. That Mrs. Warren as a brothel owner is almost indistinct from any other CEO or business owner presiding over an environment with poor working conditions. I feel it is the case that the themes have shifted in the light of today, and the play has taken on a renewed meaning.  

If we are living in the epoch of the over-privileged, yet socially conscious nepo-baby, is this not epitomised by Vivie Warren? 

Mrs. Warren's Profession is a highly thought-provoking play. One that feels to take on a new relevance in the present day. We are lucky that Dominic Cooke has breathed new life into the work, so that Shaw's writing feels as pertinent as ever. ★★★★☆



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