Mrs. Warren's Profession Revival
Closing: August 16, 2025Mrs. Warren's Profession - 2025 West End History , Info & More
Garrick Theatre
2 Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0HH London
Vivie Warren is a woman ahead of her time. Estranged from her wealthy mother, she delights in a glass of whisky, a good detective story, and is determined to carve herself a sparkling legal career in an age ruled by men.
Her mother, however, is a product of that old patriarchal order. Exploiting it has earned Mrs. Warren a fortune and paid for her daughter’s expensive education – but at what cost?
Four-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (The Crown) joins forces with her real-life daughter Bridgerton’s Bessie Carter for the very first time, reuniting with the extraordinary director Dominic Cooke (Hello, Dolly!, Good) to bring George Bernard Shaw’s incendiary moral classic crashing into the 21st Century.
Mrs. Warren's Profession - 2025 - West End Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Mrs. Warren's Profession
Imelda Staunton battles with Bernard Shaw
6 / 10
The problem now, of course, is how to make this period piece speak to a modern audience. “Speak” being the operative word, since, like so many of Shaw’s plays, you often feel you are being addressed by a writer who turns every other conversation into an Oxford Union debate. The torrent of words beats you into submission. Even with a text that has been cut down and clarified by Cooke himself, you still sense Shaw’s hectoring presence.
Why does it feel so mechanical?
4 / 10
It’s Staunton doing what she does well, and has done before. Staunch, slightly terrifying. Every line a masterclass in technical precision, in full commitment. And here, it doesn’t work. She’s in a melodrama while everyone around her is in a pleasant garden comedy. She tramples over the humour, the fun, and that means the serious bits don’t stand out. She tries to make us care too deeply before we’ve even got to know her. That’s partly a problem with Cooke’s sharp scissors, which have removed a lot of Shaw’s bloat, but have also stopped us from spending enough time with the characters to ease into them. And even despite the excisions, the play still manages to drag.
Category
by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 23, 2025
Vivie Warren is a woman ahead of her time. Estranged from her wealthy mother, she delights in a glass of whisky, a good detective story, and is determined to carve herself a sparkling legal career in an age ruled by men. Her mother, however, is a product of that old patriarchal order. Exploiting it has earned Mrs. Warren a fortune and paid for her daughter’s expensive education – but at what cost?
by Alexander Cohen - May 22, 2025
Imelda Staunton leads a blistering revival
by Stephi Wild - May 14, 2025
All new photos have been released for the major revival of Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession. The production is currently in previews at the Garrick Theatre and opens on 22 May.
Mrs. Warren's Profession History
Other Productions of Mrs. Warren's Profession
| 1905 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1907 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1918 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1922 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1958 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1976 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1985 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2005 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2010 | West End |
London Production West End |
| 2010 | Broadway |
Roundabout Revival Broadway |
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
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