Written in 1893, banned for almost a decade and now in the West End: does this story of a brothel-keeper finally catching up with her daughter still have modern relevance?
George Bernard Shaw first wrote this while Victoria was still on the throne, but – thanks to the efforts of the censorship board – it wasn’t performed in front of a paying audience until well after the queen was dead and buried. Why this was once deemed too controversial for a London crowd may be difficult to discern over a century later, but the common underlying themes (limited life choices, career consequences, and filial responsibilities) resonate through the years.
Shaw intended to highlight the social hypocrisy over prostitution and how it was often more a result of poverty than a moral failing. It bats around between drama and commentary, but there’s no shortage of Wildean gags here, generally aimed at the lechers and schemers who surround the Warrens. Central to the story is the difficult relationship between a young woman who feels she has been practically forgotten by the only parent she knows, and her mother whose love language is expressed in the pounds, shillings and pence she sends to her sole offspring.
It may be an old work, but this latest outing comes with a neat – if not completely novel – twist, as Dame Imelda Staunton and her daughter Bessie Carter take on the leading roles of Kitty and Vivie Warren. Bringing your kids to work is not as common in theatre as it is in the office or the film world, but roping in family to lend a hand is hardly newsworthy: it’s not unusual for parents and offspring to appear on stage together, and only a few months ago Brian Cox played opposite his wife Nicole Ansari-Cox in stodgy bio-drama The Score (one viral April Fools post this year lampooned the practice by contemplating a père et fils team-up of Schwarzeneggers Arnold and Patrick).
Staunton blazes as only Staunton can, the gravitational pull of her presence belying her diminutive stature. It is very hard to take your eyes off her between her bursts of brilliance – which has the unfortunate effect of putting Carter somewhat in the shade when they have their explosive face-offs. That helps the lopsided script somewhat: this play may be called Mrs Warren’s Profession but is far more about Miss Warren’s profession, with her mother being painted as a less sympathetic figure and the men with varying shades of greed, idiocy, and vanilla blandness.
Carter embodies the sophisticated and headstrong Vivie with verve, energy, and exquisite timing. As the prize-winning Cambridge mathematics student, she is romantically caught between neighbour Frank Gardner she has been dating, and her mother’s business partner Sir George Crofts. The first is a young penniless gambler looking for a meal ticket; the second, a lecherous older wealthy gentleman who is happy to set up Vivie until he passes away in exchange for her hand in marriage.
She has no problem telling either where to go with their intentions, up to and including providing directions. Her mother, though, is a different matter: both are formidably independent and career-minded women, able to comfortably navigate the world of men. The two have been separated since Vivie was sent away as a child to a boarding school. Their chief communication has been the generous monthly stipend and news of Kitty’s travel plans. The young woman slowly becomes aware of how her mother went from a wretched upbringing to becoming a wealthy businesswoman with enterprises across Europe; it is this realisation and the conversations that flow from it that provides the emotional tension which gives this work its dramatic heft.
Staunton already has a heaving mantelpiece with five Oliviers, the last of which was for Dominic Cooke’s Hello, Dolly! last year. Having these creative soulmates back together so soon gives this a special appeal: their collaborations (especially their 2017 hit version of Follies) always seem to lift the source material a few notches. This latest is a world away from the all-singing, all-dancing musical that filled the huge Palladium both in tone and content, allowing us to see a different side to both actor and director.
Cooke does his best with this dated setup where women are deemed little more than marriage material but, even with a few inspired nips and tucks here and there, this production sags and drags in places. The use of ten unnamed women dressed in white as occasional background figures and stagehands gives a ghostly reminder of the sins that Warren senior has committed, while the circular stage seems to be saying “what goes around, comes around”: abandoned as a child and forced into a life not entirely of her own choosing, Kitty then went on to effectively abandon her own daughter and force her to make her own choices.
In the US, the president increasingly sees his country’s relationship with the world – be it militarily, political or economic – in terms of transactions. Here in the UK, around 4.5 million children live in poverty – that’s around 31% of the total. Even if as a society we have moved on in the way we view and treat women, much of Mrs Warren’s Profession still resonates, a reminder that poverty, power, and respectability politics remain as tangled as ever.
Catch Mrs Warren’s Profession at The Garrick Theatre until 16 August 2025.
Book your tickets at theatreticketsdirect.co.uk
Words Franco Milazzo
Photography Johan Persson
