Reviews

These days, it’s hard to believe that Mrs Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw, written in 1893, was not performed until 1902 because the Lord Chamberlain, the censor of plays, refused it a license because its subject is organized prostitution.

It is, of course, about much more than prostitution. It is a play about relationships, power and compassion.

This sumptuous adaptation preserves all the fundamental elements of De Maurier’s novel whilst also acknowledging its contemporary relevance. This is achieved by de-contextualising the setting visually. Locations are still referred to in the text, but the set design (Marg Horwell) is more suggestive of the locations rather than attempting to recreate them. This is particularly effective as the set design incorporates some stunning elements that make a great aesthetic impact. The costume design (Marg Horwell) is also mostly quite timeless. 

Tom Ballard and director Ben Russell have assembled a fine and varied cast of comedians/actors (including Ballard himself) to play a bunch of comedians chewing the fat, reminiscing, swapping gags, competing (of course) and complaining about audiences.  They’re backstage at a pub venue on a Tuesday (the slowest) night, waiting to go on.  We see them go on for their acts, and we see them come back, and we hear their audience responses – or lack of them.  These are weary, battle-hardened veterans – except maybe Tiana Hogben (‘Mai’), who calls hersel

Each night of this show’s run, a different performer arrives on stage alone.  On my night, we got Tomas (my computer won’t supply the appropriate accents on his name) Kantor.  He was brilliant.  I say ‘was’ because he’s not doing this again.

The performer/actor, in this case Tomas, knows only that they will be called upon (‘instructed’) to perform a script they’ve never seen - the text of which is on a teleprompter.