The Actors Theatre Playhouse will present George Bernard Shaw's “Mrs. Warren's Profession” as part of its Saturday Staged Reading Series, with two performances, August 20 and 27, at 7:30 p.m, according to a news release.
An early work of Shaw's, “Mrs. Warren's Profession” helped propel the Woman's Movement onto the world stage with the usual wit, insight, and upside-down logic for which Shaw was to become world famous.
Vivie Warren, a thoroughly modern young woman, has just graduated from the University of Cambridge with honors in Mathematics. Her mother, Mrs. Warren, is busy arranging Vivie's future to her own liking. Just how Mrs. Warren makes her financial way through the world is a much guarded family secret.
Vivie, who has lived a somewhat privileged life free from financial burdens, now requires answers. It turns out Mother and Daughter barely know one another. Mrs. Warren justifies to her daughter how she chose her particular profession in order to support her daughter and give her the opportunities she never had. Vivie is much changed at these revelations and unsure of her place in the world.
With courage and strength, she must make up her own mind about the kind of life she will live and the person she will become. From this mother-daughter conflict, Shaw spins a tale that turns everyone's life upside down. The play, and its successful productions in London and New York, propelled him and his political causes onto the world stage for the rest of his life.
In the cast are Heather Herring as Vivie, Mia Moravis as Mrs. Warren, Don McLean as Praed, Sam Murphy as Frank, Jon Mack as Crofts, and Bill Pearre as Gardner. The reading is directed by Sam Pilo.