‘Mrs. Warren’s’ Career Cut Short, Not Shaw’s Message

A man of strong opinions, George Bernard Shaw didn’t hesitate to share them. As early as 1894, at the beginning of his playwriting career, he concocted “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” which the British censor promptly banned.

The play, revived by the Vanguard Theatre Ensemble, deals with the then-taboo subject of prostitution. Shaw strikes out willfully against society, the government and the church and anyone else whose self-interests force women into such degradation.

Mrs. Warren is very rich, having risen from the ranks of her profession to the co-ownership and management of a chain of “houses” from Brussels to Rome. She has returned to England to restore a relationship with her daughter, who has been raised as a genteel upper-class young lady.

Vivie, unaware of her mother’s business, awaits in a country garden, where the parson’s son, Frank Gardner, is busily courting her. The impending arrival naturally causes immense distress among those surrounding Vivie, even causing the parson’s wife to take off to London to escape the confrontation. When Mrs. Warren enters, with partner Sir George Crofts, and discloses to Vivie the source of her wealth, Shaw’s angry and brilliant wheels begin to spin with a vengeance.

Director K. Robert Eaton here uses a shortened version of the play, which in its original form runs well more than three hours. He has retained the meat of Shaw’s intent without its intellectual side dishes, which illuminate the playwright’s arguments with style and great wit.

Eaton’s production has its own sense of the style with which Shaw should be played, and he has kept at least the main points of Shaw’s arguments.

If a couple of the performers, Bill Carden as the Rev. Sam Gardner, and Howard DeWitt as Crofts, are too mannered to be effective, the others bring to the staging some of the sparkle it should have.

Megan Beghtol is a charming Vivie, especially in the early scenes. When she decides to disown her mother and make her own living, Beghtol tends toward angry distaste rather than firm mature resolve, and her Vivie seems a bit un-Shavian. Outside of this odd coloration in her character, Beghtol’s characterization is sound and effective.

Laurel Kelsh Jones’ earthy quality as Mrs. Warren, filtering through a facade of the self-made lady, gives her performance a pronounced honesty and reality. This Mrs. Warren is a charmer, as gritty as she is warm.

Matt Schleicher, as Frank Gardner, Vivie’s giddy love-struck swain, and Ron Rapp, as a friend of Vivie and her mother, are winning and stylish, providing a lot of the fun Shaw loved to weave through his plays.

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* “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” Vanguard Theatre, 699-A S. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. Ends Sept. 13. $13-$15. (714) 526-8007. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Megan Beghtol: Vivie Warren

Ron Rapp: Praed

Laurel Kelsh Jones: Kitty (Mrs. Warren)

Howard DeWitt: Sir George Crofts

Matt Schleicher: Frank Gardner

Bill Carden: Rev. Sam Gardner

A Vanguard Theatre Ensemble production of G.B. Shaw’s play. Directed by K. Robert Eaton. Scenic design: Dan Nyiri. Lighting design: Sean Small. Sound design: K. Robert Eaton. Costume design: Ambra Wakefield. Dialect coach: Jane Hilary. Stage manager: Bryan Lucas.