Professional Courtesy

Last night, I went out to the theater for a production of Mrs. Warren's Profession, by George Bernard Shaw. Anyone who has spent time studying theater is probably at least passingly familiar with the play. I knew a bit of its subject matter and themes myself, but I'd never before read it or seen it performed.

The play is by now a little over 100 years old, and so it's quite interesting from a historical perspective to now look back through a modern lens at how scandalous it was in its day. Of course, it seems quite tame by today's standards; even well before the end of Shaw's life, he himself remarked that the play seemed quite innocuous with the changing times.

But it's not quite "irrelevant." While the topics of prostitution and incest aren't dealt with in any way that's particularly compelling today, the play can still spark interesting conversations on the subject of "working women" in society. Just what options are open to a career-minded woman, and in what ways is her life different from that of a career-minded man? Obviously, the world is completely changed since the original writing of the play, at the very beginnings of the suffrage movement. But even today, do all women get the same opportunities as all men?

And even another century into the future, when the times have changed even more than any of us can likely imagine, this play will still portray an interesting roller coaster of a ride in the relationship between a mother and daughter. In the course of the play, Mrs. Warren and her daughter go from distant but cordial, to well-bonded and adoring of one another, to separated irrevocably once and for all. And there's not really any clear, easy answer to who is in the right and who is in the wrong, come the end of the play.

As for this particular performance itself, it was much like the play -- enjoyable, while not exceptional. About half the cast of six turned in solid performances. The others were more spotty, though good at times. The sets were an exercise in excess. Traps in the stage brought in new furnishings for set changes, and yet a group of stage hands were still used to bring in some of the dressing. Why bother with the unnecessary expense of the traps if they weren't to be used to do the entire job anyway? Are they just showing off that they're the major local theater in town and can therefore afford to do this kind of thing?

Minor quibbles, though. In all, it was an enjoyable night at the theater.