Mrs Warren’s Profession – Sydney Theatre Co

Overview

George Bernard Shaw's 1893 play Mrs Warren’s Profession is an excellent study of money and power in the prostitution business, which needs no translation into the current day. It makes sense, then, that Sarah Giles' production at STC's Wharf 1 is a straightforward period piece. Her creative team has exercised restraint in all areas and her directorial hand is light — this is a more refined offering from her than the interesting but crass Mariage Blanc playing late last year.

Designer Renee Mulder has adorned the stage with an intricate rose-covered brocade backdrop symbolising the pretence of feminine fragility that both women are expected to exhibit but plainly find too daft to maintain. Its removal midway is a fitting reflection of their very different but similarly defiant choices to disregard society's expectations of them. Composer and sound designer Max Lyandvert uses sound effectively to provoke moments of rupture during scene changes rather than creating an emotional soundtrack.

This is a feminist play in so far as it portrays two savvy female heroes who recognise and criticise hypocrisy. The real feminist statement of the night was Helen Thomson as Mrs Kitty Warren. Voice coach Charmian Gradwell has some serious dialect chops if we go by Thomson's brilliant negotiation between Received Pronunciation and Kitty's native London accent. There are few actors performing at Thomson's level in Sydney at the moment — she hits the ball out of the park and it is riveting to watch. Her ability to glide from cavalier brashness to feigned superiority to child-like devastation is masterful and very moving. Her tumult is contrasted by Lizzie Schebesta's cool performance as estranged daughter Vivie Warren.

While the two are emotional opposites, they are well matched as intellectual sparring partners. Shaw's dramatic device of the errant mother shocking her pious daughter takes the shape of a balanced argument occurring inside a compelling plot rather than an abstracted lecture. Both women are unsentimental in their views on prostitution, and while Vivie takes the higher moral ground, it is not out of naive idealism but rather out of self-respect, which is conversely Kitty's defence for her own decision to continue in her profession. The play's triumph is that neither woman is at any point a victim.

Giles' production seems to reflect the same commonsense that the Warren women share. Shaw's play has all the elements of a histrionic domestic soap, but thankfully we are presented with a direct, sharp narrative. Giles has put Shaw's text front and centre and has given each scene clear definition. This is a smart show and a must-see for Helen Thomson's performance alone.

Mrs Warren's Professional is back for a return season from July 4-20, 2013.