STAGE REVIEW : Lively Indignation Eludes Attempt at Shaw’s ‘Warren’

When George Bernard Shaw’s “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” opened in New York in 1905, it incensed theatergoers and spread concern among public officials. There was even a court battle (unsuccessful) to have the comedy shut down.

All the brouhaha focused on the play’s most obvious element, prostitution. Turn-of-the-century America, even on the sophisticated East Coast, just could not handle a story about a feisty society lady who gained her wealth by running an international string of cathouses.

Those offended, of course, were shortsighted: “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” merely used prostitution as a lamp to illuminate the hypocrisies of the day, especially in the upper classes. Shaw was not interested in sexual mores; he was compelled by societal mores.

At Saddleback College, director Lynn Wells asks her student cast to give a steady reading of the piece, one that takes no liberties with the writing and is generally true to Shaw’s themes. Despite uneven acting, this is a relatively competent production with few technical flaws.

But it also is oddly lifeless; it lacks needed jolts of relevance. Delivered as a sort of impression of an English drawing-room piece, it has a hard time eliciting the dimension of comic indignation that Shaw intended. Here, it often becomes more of an issue of accents than an accent on issues.

The cast, to be sure, does well with the accents, from Mrs. Warren’s (Teri Ciranna’s) upright British vowels to Crofts’ (Jose Lambert’s) Indian phrasings. The actors capture a sense of being English, so it is not hard for the audience to accept the charade.

The story, though, is not always as accessible. After a recent production, a couple of woman were overheard saying they did not understand Crofts’ relationship to Mrs. Warren, or what Praed (Brian McCoy) had to do with it all. Well, Shaw’s dialogue may be somewhat obtuse to a modern audience, but the story is all there.

“Mrs. Warren’s Profession” is actually structured simply. Mrs. Warren’s very modern, money-oriented daughter, Vivie, (Steffany Lohn) is spending time with her mother and being wooed by the foppish Frank (Jay Wells).

Her mother’s “associates,” Crofts and Praed, enter the scene. Vivie thinks she has them figured out, but she doesn’t really.

When Mrs. Warren’s occupation becomes obvious to Vivie, the conflict between mother and daughter ignites.

Then there is the business with the Reverend (Joseph Bassignana), a hypocritical holy man who has his own skeletons banging around his closet. Frank keeps up the heat in winning Vivie, but there is a stunner awaiting both of them.

As Vivie is at center stage most of the time, much depends on Lohn and her ability to get us inside this curious character. Lohn is good at conveying Vivie’s unhesitating strength but is less able to realize her humorous potential. Vivie is a caricature of a certain type of suffragette: In between offering chauvinistic opinions on this and that, Shaw even has her speaking fondly of smoking cigars. The portrayal needs a varnish of foolishness painted on the superiority.

Ciranna is the most accomplished actor here, but she often loses proportion, as does Wells with Frank. Still, his Frank, with all his tilted-profile poses, is the gassy opportunist Shaw intended.

‘MRS. WARREN’S PROFESSION’

A Saddleback College production of George Bernard Shaw’s play. Directed by Lynn Wells. With Teri Ciranna, Steffany Lohn, Brian McCoy, Joseph Bassignana, Jose Lambert and Jay Wells. Sets by Wally Huntoon. Lighting by Kevin Cook. Costumes by Charles Castagno. Plays Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m and Sunday at 3 p.m. in the campus’s Studio Theatre, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Tickets: $5 to $7. (714) 582-4656.