Mrs. Warren’s Profession at the Tom Hendry Theatre/Warehouse, January 19, 2012
Reviewed by Stephanie Adamov
My interest in George Bernard Shaw stems from the generosity of my family in Dundas, Ontario. After I had expressed a keen interest in the story and songs of My Fair Lady, my Uncle Bill and Auntie Lynn introduced me to Niagara-on-the-Lake where the annual Shaw Festival takes place. In the flagship Festival Theatre, I discovered the acclaimed musical’s Shavian roots in the play Pygmalion. As the curtain was raised, my love for Shaw’s wit, discourse and dialect blossomed.
After my inaugural visit and witnessing Tara Rosling’s performance as the iconic Cockney flower girl, this trip became a ritual for the summer months to come over the next few years. Our annual trip was extended when an accomplished Christopher Plummer took the Stratford stage as a paternal emperor in Caesar and Cleopatra. Through the summer pilgrimages to the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, I have seen a great variety of his works including Saint Joan, John Bull’s Other Island, Candida, Major Barbara and Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
Naturally upon learning that Winnipeg’s Master Playwright’s Festival 2012 was to feature the works of George Bernard Shaw, I was breathlessly ecstatic. Participating in several workshops on Shaw and attending several lecture series, I was extremely eager to see the treatment of Shaw’s script and the direction of action on stage.
The playwright has been criticized for being too wordy. Shaw challenged this statement while he was alive by inviting critics to “critique what I have written, not merely the fact I have written it.” He also has been charged by reviewers with being purely intellectual and lacking in passion.
Cherissa Richards as Vivie Warren and Seana McKenna as Mrs. Warren; Photo by Leif Norman.
Using Mrs. Warren’s Profession as an example, the conflict between Vivie and her mother is anything but lacking in passion. Shaw extrapolates the humanity of the characters through the use of language and reason. In eloquent and engaging dialogue, Mrs. Warren defends her choice to profit from her appearance, rather than working as a waitress or barmaid earning a fraction of her wages and having others benefit from her appearance.
The first time Mrs. Warren’s Profession was produced in Winnipeg was April 1907. Winnipeg, as with many other cities where the play toured, instantly banned the play’s performance. Shaw expert Leonard Conolly wrote that “pandemonium arose in the audience as the nature of Mrs. Warren’s profession-prostitution-became clear. Discussion of the subject was bad enough, though the word is never explicitly stated in the dialogue of the play.”
One critic summarized a 1907 performance as being “unwholesome and repulsive,” and resembling “fly-blown meat.” This reaction was undoubtedly a result of Shaw’s scandalous subject matter and defensive stance on Mrs. Warren’s lifestyle choices. George Bernard Shaw regarded the theatre as a “factory of thought, a prompter of conscience, an elucidator of social conduct”. Inspired by Ibsen, Shaw occasionally looks to shock and challenge his audience’s ideas.
As a performance in 2012, Shaw’s play still speaks to the complexity of mother/daughter relationships as well as the complexity of societal expectations. The notion of family secrets is predominantly present including how they play out with respect to lineage. The director of the new Winnipeg performance, Alisa Palmer, states in an interview, “secrets in families are fascinating and profoundly toxic.” As secrets are linked to shame, the play reflects the effects of shame on a character.
I had the pleasure of meeting the director of Winnipeg’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession at a panel discussion as part of the 50th anniversary of the Shaw Festival. Alisa Palmer along with several colleagues defended the necessity of producing Shaw, as well as the need for his works to not be deemed dated, didactic, cerebral or irrelevant.
When Mrs. Warren’s daughter Vivie asks her mother, “are you truly not one wee doubtful or-or-ashamed?” Mrs. Warren responds, “well of course dearie, it’s only good manners to be ashamed.” However, given the circumstances and later, the immense profit with minimal consequences, Mrs. Warren continues to expand her business.
Seana McKenna as Mrs. Warren; Photo by Leif Norman.
The renowned Seana McKenna, with a quick glance, a stiff upper lip and a biting sense of maternal ownership leads the production as Mrs. Warren. Experienced Shaw Festival actress Cherissa Richards challenges her mother as Vivie Warren, a Shavian ‘new woman.’ Vivie is educated, accomplished and has a firm handshake. As a character she has to come to terms with where her allowances for her lifestyle and education originated.
The two women are truly a Shavian spectacle of intellect and wit. They are powerful in delivery and the interactions between the characters will have audiences switching sides on the argument right until the curtain call.
Arne MacPherson joins Seana as the wealthy, slightly under-spoken business partner Sir George Crofts. It is Crofts who first leads Mr. Praed, played by Gordon Tanner, to ponder the paternal linage of Vivie. Although Crofts sustains a physical presentation of prestige and entitlement, his vocal presentation seemed lacking in authority at times. Tanner also failed to project sometimes, perhaps over-muffling a character that is intended to be soft spoken.
Stephen Russell, a veteran of the Stratford stage, enters as the overly pious Reverend Samuel. Russell manages to carry a fair share of the comedic weight of the piece. He and his man-child son Frank Gardner, played by Tom Keenan, have several humorous interactions throughout the piece.
Perhaps it was a result of opening night jitters, but there were several notable script errors or slips during the performance. This may only have been noticeable to those well acquainted with the script.
Wonderfully warm light hues sprinkled the stage floor as designed by the accomplished Hugh Conacher. They managed to decorate the particularly pale colour palette of the set. Although the use of a carpeted stage was appreciated and served to absorb the sound of period shoes clunking about on stage, the garden I found lacked colour and aesthetic appeal. Set and costume designer Charlotte Dean adorned the characters in extremely vibrant and suitable costumes. However, though Mrs. Warren discusses how she has enough money to “afford a new dress every day,” yet, as reflected by her single costume change, she manages to wear the same skirt twice.
Use of the two doors, one at extreme stage right and the other opposite at stage left were used phenomenally well to indicate several different locations. Alisa Palmer’s decision to have Mrs. Warren and Vivie’s exit after curtain call at opposite doors was executed with great effectiveness.
Even in the harsh winds of a Winnipeg night, Mrs. Warren’s Profession,through heated banter and warm comedic moments, is a great addition for both the Shaw Festival and to re-expose Winnipeg audiences to the classic Irish dramatist.
Mrs. Warren’s Profession presented by the Tom Hendry Theatre/ Warehouse, 140 Rupert Avenue at Lily Street, Winnipeg, showtimes January 19 to February 4, 2012:
Shaw’s New Woman Still Matters
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Mrs. Warren’s Profession at the Tom Hendry Theatre/Warehouse, January 19, 2012
Reviewed by Stephanie Adamov
My interest in George Bernard Shaw stems from the generosity of my family in Dundas, Ontario. After I had expressed a keen interest in the story and songs of My Fair Lady, my Uncle Bill and Auntie Lynn introduced me to Niagara-on-the-Lake where the annual Shaw Festival takes place. In the flagship Festival Theatre, I discovered the acclaimed musical’s Shavian roots in the play Pygmalion. As the curtain was raised, my love for Shaw’s wit, discourse and dialect blossomed.
After my inaugural visit and witnessing Tara Rosling’s performance as the iconic Cockney flower girl, this trip became a ritual for the summer months to come over the next few years. Our annual trip was extended when an accomplished Christopher Plummer took the Stratford stage as a paternal emperor in Caesar and Cleopatra. Through the summer pilgrimages to the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, I have seen a great variety of his works including Saint Joan, John Bull’s Other Island, Candida, Major Barbara and Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
Naturally upon learning that Winnipeg’s Master Playwright’s Festival 2012 was to feature the works of George Bernard Shaw, I was breathlessly ecstatic. Participating in several workshops on Shaw and attending several lecture series, I was extremely eager to see the treatment of Shaw’s script and the direction of action on stage.
The playwright has been criticized for being too wordy. Shaw challenged this statement while he was alive by inviting critics to “critique what I have written, not merely the fact I have written it.” He also has been charged by reviewers with being purely intellectual and lacking in passion.
Cherissa Richards as Vivie Warren and Seana McKenna as Mrs. Warren; Photo by Leif Norman.
Using Mrs. Warren’s Profession as an example, the conflict between Vivie and her mother is anything but lacking in passion. Shaw extrapolates the humanity of the characters through the use of language and reason. In eloquent and engaging dialogue, Mrs. Warren defends her choice to profit from her appearance, rather than working as a waitress or barmaid earning a fraction of her wages and having others benefit from her appearance.
The first time Mrs. Warren’s Profession was produced in Winnipeg was April 1907. Winnipeg, as with many other cities where the play toured, instantly banned the play’s performance. Shaw expert Leonard Conolly wrote that “pandemonium arose in the audience as the nature of Mrs. Warren’s profession-prostitution-became clear. Discussion of the subject was bad enough, though the word is never explicitly stated in the dialogue of the play.”
One critic summarized a 1907 performance as being “unwholesome and repulsive,” and resembling “fly-blown meat.” This reaction was undoubtedly a result of Shaw’s scandalous subject matter and defensive stance on Mrs. Warren’s lifestyle choices. George Bernard Shaw regarded the theatre as a “factory of thought, a prompter of conscience, an elucidator of social conduct”. Inspired by Ibsen, Shaw occasionally looks to shock and challenge his audience’s ideas.
As a performance in 2012, Shaw’s play still speaks to the complexity of mother/daughter relationships as well as the complexity of societal expectations. The notion of family secrets is predominantly present including how they play out with respect to lineage. The director of the new Winnipeg performance, Alisa Palmer, states in an interview, “secrets in families are fascinating and profoundly toxic.” As secrets are linked to shame, the play reflects the effects of shame on a character.
I had the pleasure of meeting the director of Winnipeg’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession at a panel discussion as part of the 50th anniversary of the Shaw Festival. Alisa Palmer along with several colleagues defended the necessity of producing Shaw, as well as the need for his works to not be deemed dated, didactic, cerebral or irrelevant.
When Mrs. Warren’s daughter Vivie asks her mother, “are you truly not one wee doubtful or-or-ashamed?” Mrs. Warren responds, “well of course dearie, it’s only good manners to be ashamed.” However, given the circumstances and later, the immense profit with minimal consequences, Mrs. Warren continues to expand her business.
Seana McKenna as Mrs. Warren; Photo by Leif Norman.
The renowned Seana McKenna, with a quick glance, a stiff upper lip and a biting sense of maternal ownership leads the production as Mrs. Warren. Experienced Shaw Festival actress Cherissa Richards challenges her mother as Vivie Warren, a Shavian ‘new woman.’ Vivie is educated, accomplished and has a firm handshake. As a character she has to come to terms with where her allowances for her lifestyle and education originated.
The two women are truly a Shavian spectacle of intellect and wit. They are powerful in delivery and the interactions between the characters will have audiences switching sides on the argument right until the curtain call.
Arne MacPherson joins Seana as the wealthy, slightly under-spoken business partner Sir George Crofts. It is Crofts who first leads Mr. Praed, played by Gordon Tanner, to ponder the paternal linage of Vivie. Although Crofts sustains a physical presentation of prestige and entitlement, his vocal presentation seemed lacking in authority at times. Tanner also failed to project sometimes, perhaps over-muffling a character that is intended to be soft spoken.
Stephen Russell, a veteran of the Stratford stage, enters as the overly pious Reverend Samuel. Russell manages to carry a fair share of the comedic weight of the piece. He and his man-child son Frank Gardner, played by Tom Keenan, have several humorous interactions throughout the piece.
Perhaps it was a result of opening night jitters, but there were several notable script errors or slips during the performance. This may only have been noticeable to those well acquainted with the script.
Wonderfully warm light hues sprinkled the stage floor as designed by the accomplished Hugh Conacher. They managed to decorate the particularly pale colour palette of the set. Although the use of a carpeted stage was appreciated and served to absorb the sound of period shoes clunking about on stage, the garden I found lacked colour and aesthetic appeal. Set and costume designer Charlotte Dean adorned the characters in extremely vibrant and suitable costumes. However, though Mrs. Warren discusses how she has enough money to “afford a new dress every day,” yet, as reflected by her single costume change, she manages to wear the same skirt twice.
Use of the two doors, one at extreme stage right and the other opposite at stage left were used phenomenally well to indicate several different locations. Alisa Palmer’s decision to have Mrs. Warren and Vivie’s exit after curtain call at opposite doors was executed with great effectiveness.
Even in the harsh winds of a Winnipeg night, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, through heated banter and warm comedic moments, is a great addition for both the Shaw Festival and to re-expose Winnipeg audiences to the classic Irish dramatist.
Mrs. Warren’s Profession presented by the Tom Hendry Theatre/ Warehouse, 140 Rupert Avenue at Lily Street, Winnipeg, showtimes January 19 to February 4, 2012:
Monday, Thursday, Friday 8 pm • Tuesday, Wednesday 7:30 pm • Thursday Feb 2 matinee 2 pm • Saturday matinee 3:30 pm • Saturday evening 8:30 pm.