Mrs Warren's Profession at Comedy Theatre

Mrs Warren's Profession at Comedy Theatre

26 March, 2010
by: Hollyw

The once controversial Shavian drama fails to invigorate Holly Williams despite strong performances from Felicity Kendal and Lucy Briggs-Owen.

When Mrs Warren’s Profession had its first public performance in America in 1905, more than a decade after Shaw wrote it, it caused quite the stir. Because Mrs Warren’s Profession – the oldest there is – was considered by critics to be ‘abominable’ and ‘unmentionable’. Shaw, however, thought it was certainly worth mentioning and that perhaps by talking about it more often, society could change its economic system so that so many women didn’t end up as prostitutes. The play fell foul of the censor in Britain too, and was deemed too scandalous to be publicly performed until 1925.

What was once radical can over time become safe, and is perhaps unlikely now to feel particularly invigorating. This production certainly feels like “Theatre” with a capital T, pronounced in a cut-glass accent; all terribly well done but hardly essential. Some of the cast – the silly young suitor, the arty friend – are stilted, and seem just like over-enunciating actors ‘doing Shaw’.

However, there are some strong performances that bring the play to life. Felicity Kendal takes the titular role, while Lucy Briggs-Owen is also strong as her no-nonsense mathematics graduate daughter, who is about to find out where her wealth comes from. David Yelland also stands out as the sleazy, smarmy Crofts.

Kendal’s husky voice – deliciously dirty on certain lines – does struggle when she attempts to lose her temper; you rather want to give her a Strepsil. But mostly she’s a treat, and her delivery of Kitty Warren’s impassioned explanations of the economic hardships that drive impoverished girls into prostitution is compelling. Until this point at the end of the first half, the play feels a rather period-bound piece of froth, but Shaw’s social radicalism here is still concerningly pertinent – prostitution may not be the only profession where you’ll earn cash but women’s trading on their looks is hardly a dying art.

As Mrs Warren’s Profession goes on, we see that although Kitty may be a strong and cheerfully defiant figure, she also has a tendency towards hypocrisy, emotional blackmail and pettiness. Women in this play are neither virgins nor whores – they are people struggling within a messy, unfair society.

There are more secrets revealed in the second half, and once again, the really crunchy scenes are between Briggs-Owen and Kendal. Briggs-Owen is impressive as Vivie, who could easily be an overly rational, priggish and frankly cold character. Instead, Briggs-Owen inflects a warmth beyond Vivie’s high principals, and the final moments of the play are all hers, as she gives a sharply accurate display of emotion. Mrs and Miss Warren could seem rather cut-out sorts of characters, vehicles for a social message only, but these two actors, under skillful direction from Michael Rudman, bring Shaw’s characters to life – and the play is alive, too, to the hypocrisies and difficult decisions women face. Shame, then, that the rest of the cast don’t reach the same depths.

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Hollyw