The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street) will extend its run of George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession, starring Dana Ivey, through February 19, 2006. Directed by Irish Rep Artistic Director Charlotte Moore, the production is being performed during the centennial anniversary of the play's original American production. The show opened on December 18, 2005.
"At the turn of the century, Vivie Warren, a Cambridge educated and well brought-up young woman, learns that her mother, Mrs. Kitty Warren, has risen from abject poverty to enormous wealth through her investments in brothels throughout Europe. While Miss Warren acknowledges her mothers courage and respects her overcoming her past, she fails to agree with her mothers continuing in her line of work," according to press notes. Mrs. Warren's Profession was written by George Bernard Shaw in 1894, but was prevented from any production until January 1902 at London's New Lyric Club. The play's American debut was in 1905 in New Haven but was closed and banned after only one performance. It subsequently transferred to Broadway's Garrick Theatre where it opened on October 30, 1905 to a sold-out audience, but was soon closed there as well and the cast was cited for "disorderly conduct."
Shaw wrote in Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant, "Mrs. Warren's Profession was written 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 so shamefully that the poorest of them are forced to resort to prostitution... No normal woman would be a professional prostitute if she could better herself by being respectable, nor marry for money if she could afford to marry for love." Shaw won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.The cast is led by Dana Ivey who recently received a Tony nomination for her role as Mrs. Kitty Warren in The Rivals. Her extensive Broadway credits include and Henry
IV, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Major Barbara, The Last Night of
Ballyhoo, Indiscretions, Sunday in the Park with George, Heartbreak
House, Present Laughter and Macbeth. Among her film credits are Legally Blonde 2, Mumford, Simon Birch, Addams Family Values, The Addams Family, Heartburn and The Color Purple. .
The cast also includes Laura Odeh as the daughter, David Staller as Mr. Praed, Sam Tsoutsouvas as Sir George Crofts, Kevin Collins as Frank Gardner, and Kenneth Garner performs the role of Reverend Samuel Gardner.The show features set design Dan Kuchar, costume design by David Toser, lighting design by Mary Jo Dondlinger, sound design by Murmod, Inc., and wig and hair design by Robert-Charles Vallance.Performances are Wednesday – Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 3 PM.Tickets are $50 and $45 and can be purchased by calling The Irish Repertory Theatre Box Office at (212) 727-2737. For more information call (212) 727-2737 visit www.irishrep.org.
