Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until Saturday 8th April 2023
Reviewed by Steph Lott
5*****
Vivie Warren (Rose Quentin), a thoroughly modern young woman, has just graduated from the University of Cambridge, with honours, in Mathematics. Her mother, Mrs. Kitty Warren (Caroline Quentin) has arranged for Vivie to meet Mr. Praed (Stephen Rahman-Hughes), at the cottage where Vivie is staying. Mrs. Warren arrives with her business partner, Sir George Crofts, (Simon Shepherd). He is attracted to Vivie despite their 25-year age difference. Vivie is romantically involved with the youthful Frank Gardner (Peter Losasso), who sees her as his meal ticket. His father, the (married and slightly disreputable) Reverend Samuel Gardner (Matthew Cottle), has a history with Vivie’s mother. The scene is therefore set for some social fireworks!
Vivie has come home to get acquainted with her mother for the first time in her life. Vivie knows very little about her mother, especially how Kitty earned her money and paid for Vivie’s upbringing and education, which was through running a successful chain of brothels.
I found this an excellent thought-provoking play. Its themes are as powerful now as when they were written and leave us uncomfortable. Kitty argues her case very plausibly to Vivie that she entered prostitution to escape poverty. However, Vivie is appalled when she discovers her mother is now still running a Europe-wide trade with Sir George Crofts. Whilst the play is set 100 years ago, there are queasy similarities between Kitty’s brothels and modern-day trafficking rings.
Caroline Quentin gives a storming performance as Mrs Warren. Although there is a whiff of Ab Fab’s Edina about her at times when she is sparring with her daughter (especially in Act 1) there is a robust edge to her portrayal of Kitty. The genteel mask occasionally slips, and her Cockney origins appear. Quentin exudes charm and is fascinating as the complex, sometimes manipulative Kitty. Rose Quentin has a straighter, flatter part to play, and she does so very competently, providing an excellent contrast to her mother. There is a powerfully dramatic mother-daughter showdown at the end, with both giving fine performances. We feel sorry for them both.
The male characters are much less red-blooded than Kitty and Vivie and are all hypocritical in their ways. However, Simon Shepherd is excellent as the smarmily obnoxious Sir George Crofts, and I found Peter Losasso’s portrayal of the nauseating Frank equally splendid. None of the men are likeable (except perhaps Praed?)
The scenery is beautiful and quirky, as designed by David Woodhead, and evokes English summers and quiet villages. The curtain rises on a rural Surrey scene, picture perfect but oddly out of proportion. There are large expanses of sky in addition to a teeny tiny cottage which is rather distracting and comic as it’s like a Wendy house! There’s also an odd lopsided church which is perhaps in keeping with its eccentric Vicar! All together though I thought it was beautiful. Anthony Banks’ production rattles along nicely and looks terrific. The cast are very competent and comfortable with portraying Shaw’s moral dilemmas, which are as intriguing as ever. Shaw’s frank discussion of prostitution — Mrs Warren’s profession — still packs a punch today, as does its criticism of a hypocritical society and the conflict between the pragmatic Kitty and her morally upright daughter Vivie.