Imelda Staunton makes a welcome stage return in 2025, alongside her daughter Bessie Carter (Bridgerton) in George Bernard Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession. Once banned under the Lord Chamberlin's office, Shaw intended the play to address prostitution in the era, and to: "draw attention to the truth that prostitution is caused, not by female depravity and male licentiousness, but simply by underpaying, undervaluing and overworking women", as played out when Vivie Warren (Carter) returns home from university to discover her mother Kitty's (Staunton) true profession as a brothel madam.
Reuniting Staunton with director Dominic Cooke (Hello, Dolly and Follies) and producer Sonia Freedman, Mrs Warren's Profession will be a chance to catch one of our finest screen and stage actors in powerful form. Discussing the revival, the play's first West End outing since 2010, Staunton said: "The new year felt like the perfect time to return to the stage in Mrs Warren's Profession, a play which asks ever pertinent questions about the role of women in society, and the choices they make for survival. I couldn't be happier to be stepping into the rehearsal room with my very great friend and colleague Dominic; and my brilliant daughter Bessie. What a treat for 2025!"
What Is The Story?
First produced in America in 1905 - eleven years after it was written - it caused such outrage among the press that the company were arrested, and the play was banned in England until 1925. While the notion of prostitution is not going to shock any of todays audiences, what is shocking is the realisation that the degradation and desperation which forced many women to sell their bodies at that time is not totally behind us.
At the heart of Mrs Warren’s Profession lies the relationship between Vivie and her mother. Unbeknown to Vivie, Mrs Kitty Warren is a former prostitute has been running a chain of brothels (‘hotels’) across Europe. Kitty is a force of nature, flirtatious and unashamedly vulgar in comparison with her well-educated daughter. She has known real poverty, and knows too the hypocrisy of the wealthier classes, which she has exploited to the full. The most touching moment comes when she describes to Vivie the hard choices she has had to make. Eventually, Vivie coldly and cruelly rejects her, not so much for her immorality, but more so for her conventional expectation that Vivie will get married and look after her mother in her old age.
This new revival brings Shaw's explosive moral drama into the 21st century. Its frank discussion of prostitution still packs a punch today, as does its criticism of a hypocritical society and the conflict between the pragmatic mother and her morally upright daughter. Don't miss out on seeing Imelda Staunton one of the finest actors of her generation back on stage.
Mrs. Warren’s Profession is currently playing at Garrick Theatre 10 May - 16 August 2025
Details
- Address:
- The Garrick Theatre
- WC2H 0HH
- Transport:
- Tube: Leicester Square (Northern, Piccadilly) Charing Cross (Northern, Bakerloo) Embankment (District, Circle) Bus numbers: (Charing Cross Road) 24, 29, 176; (Strand) 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 87, 91, 139