Photo: Johan Persson
Writer: Bernard Shaw
Director: Dominic Coole
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Ignoring the advice offered in Noël Coward’s famous song, Dame Imelda Staunton has gone ahead and put her daughter, Bessie Carter, on the stage. Indeed, she now goes one stage further by sharing a stage with her in director Dominic Cooke’s classy revival of George Bernard Shaw’s 1902 play Mrs Warren’s Profession; perhaps inevitably, the pair play mother and daughter.
Not for the only time, Shaw sets out to puncture the facade of refinement and gentility surrounding the English upper middle classes of his age and he expose the hypocrisy that hides behind it. The profession of the play’s title is that which is often referred to as “the oldest” one and, accordingly, it was only performed in private members’ clubs for many years after it was written. Nowadays, it should be regarded as, in more ways than one, family friendly, notwithstanding the theatre’s somewhat surprising 14+ age recommendation. Could it be that traces of Edwardian prudishness still linger on?
Writing at the dawn of female emancipation, Shaw uses the play to examine the changing roles of women in society. Vivie Warren has been raised and tutored in rural England and she is now ready to make her own way in the world, not as a dutiful wife, but as an independent professional woman. Carter is splendid in the role. instantly dispelling thoughts of nepotism. Vivie awaits the arrival of her mother, Kitty, breaking into her business travels around Europe to make a rare visit. Staunton slightly underplays the role, surprisingly not fully exploiting the comic potential of Kitty, although, very occasionally, she allows glimpses of vulgarity to appear through the character’s air of refinement.
The balance between the two key performances could reflect a view by Coole that Shaw wanted the play’s primary focus to be on Vivie. Kitty had financed her daughter’s upbringing, expecting her to grow into the role of a lady of her own generation, only to see the emergence of a very modern woman. Vivie has suitors in the earnest Mr Praed (Sid Sagar) and the naive Frank Gardner (Reuben Joseph), son of a clergyman (Kevin Doyle) who had known Kitty in the past, but she rejects them in favour of keeping control over her own life. Kitty is accompanied by her friend and, it transpires, business partner Sir George Crofts (Robert Glenister in villainous mode), who also has his eyes on Vivie, but his offers of status and financial security are swiftly turned down.
Essentially, Shaw sees Kitty and Vivie as the same woman born into different generations and now divided by the circumstances into which society has forced them. Cooke counters the writer’s reputation for being wordy and worthy with a streamlined staging in which even Chloe Lanford’s elegant set designs are notable for their simplicity. Scenes change quickly and speeches are delivered briskly, all fitting into 105 minutes with no interval. Strangely, the company is augmented by the occasional appearances of a non-speaking chorus in the style of ancient Greek drama. It is not entirely clear what purpose this serves, but if it keeps decent actors away from having to wait tables, it is to be welcomed,
Leaving aside the play’s slightly scandalous subject matter, Coole’s revival gives us a flavour of what a night out in the West End may have been like a century or more ago. The Garrick Theatre has probably not changed very much and the production is utterly conventional without ever being dull.
Performance date: 28 May 2025
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