Remy
Bumppo's
production of "Mrs. Warren's Profession" staged in a Joseph Cornell
shadow box of a set, is a perfect platform for illuminating a range of still
current themes including: social repression (and ways to evade same), the roles
of women, the intense dynamics between mothers and daughters, feminism, and
self respect and self-actualization. Mrs. Warren reflects at one point
"What's a woman worth, what's life worth, without her self respect?"
"Mrs. Warren's Profession" in the hands of this expert company takes
us on a journey set in 1907, but save a few details, could be set today. Humor,
social commentary, and drama in equal measure. A delightful production.
The
Warren household includes Mrs. Kitty Warren (Annabel Armour), a single mother and successful
businesswoman, who is enjoying a visit at her home in Surrey from her young
adult and college educated daughter Vivie (Susan Shunk) in the summer of 1907. We first
meet smart and judgmental Vivie and then several middle-aged men who wander
through, also visiting Surrey or who live there: Praed (Donald Brearley), Sir George Crofts (Kevin
Gudahl), and
local Reverend Samuel Gardner (Joe Van Slyke). The final male character is
young Vivie's age mate, a Surrey local, and potential summer flirtation, Frank
Gardner (Matt Schwader), son of Reverend Samuel. Kitty has a business about which Vivie
knows little before the day of the play; Crofts is somehow involved as a
business colleague; Praed is an old friend of Kittys who Vivie meets for the
first time on this visit; and the local Reverend and his son provide
superficial morality and perhaps other secrets to be uncovered.
The
men in the story represent archetypes and moral and social roles. We have
Phraed the aesthete, good friend but what does he do for a living and what,
other than entertaining good manners does he offer? Crofts, Mrs. Warren's
business partner, has smarmy good manners, an obsequious air, and is a social
realist who delivers some of the play's best lines. Crofts sees women
strategically, as commodities, in his business and in his private life. The
"Roman Father" local Reverend Gardner represents superficial charm,
small town friendliness, and a man who lives with secrets. And finally his son
Frank, who goes "regularly on the razzle dazzle" (i.e. enjoys his
father's resources and has yet to find a career), provides an early potential
mate and banter partner for Vivie. The details about who proposes, who doesn't
propose, and the true nature of all the family relationships should be left to
the viewer.
Deep
in the second of four acts, we have our first scene between mother and
daughter. We as an audience are waiting at this point to understand the
underlying dynamic and drive animating the familiar yet slightly strained
energy between the two women. Some of this of course reflects the age of the young
delightfully portrayed Vivie. At one point Vivie says to her mother, frustrated
at Kitty's proposal to just swoop in and determine where and how Vivie is to
live. "Don't you think I have a way of life like other people?" What
this production introduces (or what my response to this exchange in this
production adds) is another dimension to what this "way of life"
might entail -- Vivie talks about an intensely close friendship with a female
colleague back in the city, for example. Kitty Warren is taken to task on all
sides beginning with this interaction: are you really my mother? Where is my
family? When Vivie learns that the source of the resources that have supported
her upbringing in boarding schools and at university has been high class
brothels her mother has run with her sister and Crofts, Vivie ultimately
understands this in the context of women of business, making do in the world.
However, because Kitty allows Vivie to think that these houses were past and
not current businesses, therefore not being totally truthful with her, the
stage is set for a final act challenge to their relationship. These are women
who fight tears, need each other, know to work hard. And we don't know if they
will ever find their way to one another.
The
set designed by Tim Morrison evokes images of a past time in European capitals
through fragments of business receipts written in quill pen (what might those
transactions entail we wonder?) and dance hall women in the style of
Toulouse-Lautrec. Shifting, parsimoniously selected set pieces (properties
designed by Ross Moreno) with a stable back stage; provides a suggestive rather than
thoroughly realistic stage set and keeps our focus on the words and the lives
of the characters. Careful illumination of faces and items in the intimate
lighting design by Richard Norwood maintains this focus continually, thrillingly on the
words. Dreamy sound design by Joe Cerqua focuses primarily on music to play off and on and
interscenic mood creation. And dramaturg Peter Davis has crafted artful and
illuminating program notes as well as a detailed study guide to accompany this
production.
Quoting
favorite lines from this play can become friendly sport. From Crofts we have
several. "If you're going to choose your friends on moral principles you'll
have to clear out of the country." Also the essential "There are no
secrets better kept than those everybody guesses." From Kitty we have
"Lord help the world if everyone took to doing the right thing." And
this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Warren
mother and daughter beg the question of modern audiences: with whom do you
sympathize? Some might say that each character ultimate gets what she sought.
Shaw is very unsentimental in his belief in individuals to craft their own
identity and their need for independence. In this light, Vivie's search for
independence is not a tragedy but a strength. Some could respond to the core
dynamic of this play - the role in society for independent and educated women -
through fear or joy depending upon their emotional responses to feminism. The
play itself provides humor, political commentary, and delightfully crafted
theatrical rhythms. This production highlights the playwright's intentions and
provides an experience that will feel fresh and contemporary. Remy Bumppo does
it again.