Mrs. Warren’s Profession
20 May 2025
Garrick Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Mrs. Warren’s Profession, featuring the incredible Imelda Staunton and her real life daughter Bessie Carter playing a mother and daughter duo, is currently booking at the Garrick until 16 August. George Bernard Shaw’s 1890s social commentary play is staged beautifully on a round stage bursting with flowers, a tranquil English garden with a wrought iron bench and a few chairs. The stage dressing is gorgeous, vivid and serene, giving a visually appealing backdrop to the slowly unfolding plot.
Kitty Warren had a rough start in life, turning to sex work at a young age and eventually working her way up to co-owner of several brothels throughout Europe, using her substantial wealth to afford her daughter Vivie the best education money can buy, far away from her business dealings. Vivie Warren has recently graduated from Cambridge with a prestigious maths degree and longs to be independent with a job in the city, while Kitty brings several men to woo her, hoping her daughter would marry and live a calm and happy life. When they finally get to know each other, they both struggle with disappointment and moral objections with the lifestyle choices of the other.
The staging is engaging and energetic, with the lavish English garden set, incredible costuming choices, and a convincing cast that really brings the story to life. Staunton is outstanding as Kitty Warren, bringing depth and temperament to the complex role, while Carter impresses with an uptight, restrained Vivie who is self-assured and possesses incredible strength in her convictions. Both characters are so well rounded and vividly portrayed, it’s rare for such an old play to give women agency and voices to this extent, though of course most of it still revolves around their relationships with men.
Shaw’s play examines how economic situations, rather than moral character, inform women’s career choices in the late 18-hundreds, and is startlingly applicable in modern times still. The production runs at one hour and 45 minutes without an interval and is definitely worth seeing!
