Review: MRS. WARREN'S PROFESSION Provokes and Delights at Washington Stage Guild

Appearing at the Washington Stage Guild this month is Mrs. Warren's Profession, a biting and poignant play that remains as relevant today as when it was first penned by George Bernard Shaw in 1893. Directed by Michael Rothhaar, who also directed Washington Stage Guild's 1991 production of the show, this rendition of Mrs. Warren's Profession showcases the play's humor and wit without dulling the more provocative elements for which it is known.

Referred to by Shaw as one of his "unpleasant plays" for its thought-provoking social critiques and explosive reception when first performed in 1902, Mrs. Warren's Profession tells the story of a mother and daughter set at odds by their opposing views on morality, integrity, and labor. Having recently excelled at Cambridge, self-assured and hardworking Vivie Warren is determined to create a future for herself, on her own terms. When she is visited by her long-absent mother, affluent businesswoman Kitty Warren, the truth behind Mrs. Warren's wealth unfolds. The truth's repercussions on the women's respective futures become increasingly severe, ushering in an eruptive climax in the play's final act.

Director Michael Rothhaar is not the only returning member of WSG's original production: Lynn Steinmetz, who plays a vibrant and direct Mrs. Warren in this month's production, first played the role of Vivie in 1991. That Steinmetz knows Vivie's character intimately certainly informs the complexity of the Kitty Warren she brings to life on stage today, one who is vulgar yet charismatic as she claims to hold self-respect while hiding behind her wealth.

Acting as a wonderful complement to Steinmetz's Kitty is Rachel Felstein who plays a bold and practical Vivie Warren. A modern woman through and through, the show opens with Vivie alone on stage, feet casually propped up on a table, smiling to herself while reading-of all things-a law textbook. Together, Steinmetz and Felstein bring sympathy, tenderness, and humor to the formidable Warren women, even as the characters' strong wills and prejudices make them increasingly hostile to one another.

They are joined on stage by a cast of equally skillful actors. WILL ROTHHAAR plays the clever Frank Gardner with such charm that it's hard to feel off-put by the character's impish nature. Carl Randolph portrays the arrogant Sir George Crofts as a man who seems to delight in menacing the women who defy him, at times resorting to outright violence, a choice that emphasizes the play's concern with the precarious physical and social conditions women are forced to endure. Adding a sense of lightness to the stage are R. Scott William as the bumbling and perpetually frazzled Rev. Sam Gardner and Peter Boyer as the romantic and reliable Mr. Praed.

In a recent interview with Broadway World, Michael Rothhaar insists that George Bernard Shaw's plays should be performed not out of reverence for Shaw's position as an esteemed playwright but out of the necessity to illuminate the razor-sharp social criticism in his work. He reflects on the relevance of Mrs. Warren's Profession today in his director's note: "Shaw's play continues to be a witty, insightful, and relentless account of two women, at different points in life, who insist on choosing their own destinies in face of the expectations of Victorian society. Let me say that again with emphasis: choosing their own destinies."

When the curtains close after the show's explosive final act, the audience is left asking: What does it mean for women today to choose their own destinies in the face of society's expectations? While modern performances of Mrs. Warren's Profession no longer send "a pallid crowd of critics into the street shrieking that the pillars of society are cracking" as Shaw himself recounts in 1902, the hypocrisies that plagued turn of the century England and inspired the play still linger. Women's bodies remain commodities and their efforts to benefit from this commodification are ridiculed (at the very least), "fashionable morality" continues to obscure productive responses to the socio-economic conditions causing poverty, and opposing values certainly continue to tear families apart. By posing this question, Rothhaar's production of this classic play succeeds in its mission.

Funny, scathing, and ultimately heartbreaking, Mrs. Warren's Profession at the Washington Stage Guild proves the show remains just as relevant and necessary as it was over a century ago.

Mrs. Warren's Profession is onstage at the Washington Stage Guild through March 27. The show's run time is two and a half hours with two intermissions. Purchase tickets here.

Featured Photo: (L-R) Rachel Felstein as Vivie Warren and Lynn Steinmetz as Mrs. Kitty Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession at Washington Stage Guild through March 27. Photo by DJ Corey Photography.

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