November 2, 2025 • 11 mins
Kyle McGrath reviews National Theatre Live: Mrs Warren's Profession for Subculture.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, welcome back to the show. I'm your host, Kyle,
and well, I'm going to be looking at something a
little bit different today. Well, I'm used to reviewing movies
or films, and I'm used to reviewing theater, but this
is the first time I believe that I have reviewed
filmed theater. It is the National Theater Live presentation of
(00:27):
Missus Warren's Profession. It stars Emelda Staunton and her real
life daughter Bessie Carter in the lead roles, and of
course the production is Bernard Shaw's timeless exploration of morality
(00:47):
clashing with hypocrisy. It's a play which was originally conceived
in the eighteen hundreds, which is quite impressive considering how
relevant it's still is today. And I apologize if I
sound a little bit under the weather. It is. Well,
it's just that time of the year and as I'm
(01:09):
frequently told, it seems to be going around. So yeah,
I'm unfortunately sick at the moment. Missus Warren's Profession is
a play about well, young viv Warren played by Bessie Carter.
Now she's a popular girl, but she's really a free spirit.
(01:30):
She plays to her own tune. She's educated people love her,
and well, she's not exactly what you would think of
when you think of an eighteen hundreds early nineteen hundreds
lady of society. Her mother, however, is Missus Warren, played
(01:54):
by Emilda Staunton. She's a woman of wealth, woman of stature,
and well, she's a woman with the past. She is
somebody who needed to do some not horrible things, but
needed to do some things that were looked down upon
(02:15):
in order to get to be where she is in life.
The play looks at how Vivy judges, how Vivy be
judges what her mother has done in the past, but
also what her mother what she has maybe given up
(02:36):
for herself in order to become this person of a
high standing in society or the somewhat patriarchal society of
which the characters exist. Now, cuting to the chase, Missus
Warren's profession is that of a madam at a brothel,
(02:58):
the proprietor, the owner, and well somebody that pretty much
has run a brothel in a time when that was
really looked down upon. It's kind of what makes this
play such an interesting time capsule for when it was
written even today, Over one hundred years later, that kind
of that kind of a job title is still something
(03:23):
that's looked down upon in high society. But that's why
Bernard Shaw was such a well known playwright and critic
and political activist of his time. I mean, the man
was born in eighteen fifties and he was given an
Academy award, so among all his other his wealth of accolades.
(03:50):
The social commentary that the play Missus Warren's Profession elucidates
on the sex industry is that, especially at the time time,
a prostitution was something which it wasn't so much. It
was less an act of less an act of just
(04:13):
moral degradation, and more of necessity. And Missus Warren or
Kitty Warren, she is somebody who was looking at the
life of pain and misery and instead decided to take
charge of her own life by going into a line
(04:34):
of work which other people would turn the noses up at.
In doing this, she was able to provide for a daughter,
She was able to find a place for herself in
high society. And the thing is that that same high
society has certain prejudices against exactly what Missus Warren had
(04:56):
to do in order to get to where she is,
including her own daughters, the ways that she admires her mother,
the ways that she looks down upon her mother, for
the fact that it's an interesting thing. At one point,
Vivi admires her mother for what she does, but at
(05:17):
another point, when she finds out that her mother is
still actually in the she's still in the still in
the profession when she doesn't really need to be, she
looks down upon her. It's an interesting kind of look
where there's a lot of different ways to approach the
(05:37):
situation and approach the profession at the World's Orders profession,
and it's kind of up to the audience to decide
whether anyone is actually correct. There's several other characters in
play as well. It's not just about the two Warren women,
although several of them seem to be keen suitors for
(05:59):
Vivian's Vivvy's hand in marriage, including Frank Gardner played by
Ruben Joseph, his father, Reverend Samuel Gardner played by Kevin Doyle,
and Sir George Croft's played by Robert Gleisner, who is
actually a partner of Kitty Warren in the profession that
(06:24):
she is that she indulged in. Now Never having seen
an actual live presentation of this play, I can't tell
how this performance of it compares. I believe that a
lot of a lot of it had to have been
cut down in order to get it to a shorter
(06:46):
run time by its director Domotic Cook. The thing is,
it does kind of lessen some of the supporting roles,
I would assume because a lot of them, they'd seem
only exist. The characters seem only exist just to provide
just very limited feedback to Viv and to her mother.
(07:12):
There's not really they don't really exist much as characters
in this play, which is why I went so long
without even talking about them. That would, however, be the
only major issue that I would have with with this play.
It's just that some of the some of the side
characters feel a little bit underdeveloped. Because Viv and her
(07:38):
mother are played incredibly by Bessie Carter and Emilda Staunton.
I believe that it's become a little bit of a
tradition for a real life mother daughter to play these
two roles, and it really does pay off here. There's
two major emotional scenes through in the in the play
(07:59):
where basically everything is put out on the table, and yeah,
I mean the actor that gets the lion's share is
definitely Milda Stanton as she pretty much tells her daughter
why she is where she is in her life and
why she doesn't want to give it up. Starton is
(08:21):
an incredible actress, and I mean this is supposed to
be a completely live performance. I can't say for certain
whether there were any alternate takes done or what the
what any kind of Hollywood magic, even though it is
the entire point of this the National Theater Live Project
(08:44):
is it's supposed to be basically theater on just on film.
But the problem it's absolutely perfect, just the way that
that that she delivers a role, and that that has
me wondering like did she were there any mistakes or
(09:04):
is she really just that incredible of an actress. But
I mean she has a five time Olivia Award winner
Amilda Stalton I'm talking about here, so maybe she just
really is that perfect in the in her performance. The
creative team also included a lighting design by John Clark,
(09:25):
sound designed by Christopher Shutt, and the very look of
the play is something kind of interesting. The entire most
of the players is set in a garden as the
characters discuss and talk to each other, but to show
the passage of time, the the set will rotate and
(09:51):
the characters will move around, and it's an interesting thing
and I kind of, like I said, I would like
to see a comple leak production of this, and one
in I would like to actually watch it in theater.
But I think that this is a very interesting way
to watch to experience this theater play. And considering that
(10:15):
this is the first time that I've actually watched a
Bernhard Shaw production or a National Theater production on film,
I think it's kind of an interesting thing that I
wouldn't mind diving into again in the future. My review
of this, it's a little tricky because, like I said,
(10:36):
I haven't I've watched the movies. I'm into film, I'm
into theater, but this is kind of like stuck between two,
like what do you how do I review this? I
would have to I would have to give this a
four out of five because I really did enjoy it,
but just not having that live the actual live experience itself,
(11:00):
I can't give an absolutely perfect score that I'd feel
that such a performance would warrant. Not having been able
to watch it performed live myself. So the film is
National Theater Lives production of Missus Warren's Profession and it
(11:21):
should be playing at all, well, it should be playing
at certain niche cinemas. I would suggest checking out flickstot
com dot Au to see local cinemas that might be
playing it, and it's definitely one that I would recommend
checking out
Hello, welcome back to the show. I'm your host, Kyle,
and well, I'm going to be looking at something a
little bit different today. Well, I'm used to reviewing movies
or films, and I'm used to reviewing theater, but this
is the first time I believe that I have reviewed
filmed theater. It is the National Theater Live presentation of
(00:27):
Missus Warren's Profession. It stars Emelda Staunton and her real
life daughter Bessie Carter in the lead roles, and of
course the production is Bernard Shaw's timeless exploration of morality
(00:47):
clashing with hypocrisy. It's a play which was originally conceived
in the eighteen hundreds, which is quite impressive considering how
relevant it's still is today. And I apologize if I
sound a little bit under the weather. It is. Well,
it's just that time of the year and as I'm
(01:09):
frequently told, it seems to be going around. So yeah,
I'm unfortunately sick at the moment. Missus Warren's Profession is
a play about well, young viv Warren played by Bessie Carter.
Now she's a popular girl, but she's really a free spirit.
(01:30):
She plays to her own tune. She's educated people love her,
and well, she's not exactly what you would think of
when you think of an eighteen hundreds early nineteen hundreds
lady of society. Her mother, however, is Missus Warren, played
(01:54):
by Emilda Staunton. She's a woman of wealth, woman of stature,
and well, she's a woman with the past. She is
somebody who needed to do some not horrible things, but
needed to do some things that were looked down upon
(02:15):
in order to get to be where she is in life.
The play looks at how Vivy judges, how Vivy be
judges what her mother has done in the past, but
also what her mother what she has maybe given up
(02:36):
for herself in order to become this person of a
high standing in society or the somewhat patriarchal society of
which the characters exist. Now, cuting to the chase, Missus
Warren's profession is that of a madam at a brothel,
(02:58):
the proprietor, the owner, and well somebody that pretty much
has run a brothel in a time when that was
really looked down upon. It's kind of what makes this
play such an interesting time capsule for when it was
written even today, Over one hundred years later, that kind
of that kind of a job title is still something
(03:23):
that's looked down upon in high society. But that's why
Bernard Shaw was such a well known playwright and critic
and political activist of his time. I mean, the man
was born in eighteen fifties and he was given an
Academy award, so among all his other his wealth of accolades.
(03:50):
The social commentary that the play Missus Warren's Profession elucidates
on the sex industry is that, especially at the time time,
a prostitution was something which it wasn't so much. It
was less an act of less an act of just
(04:13):
moral degradation, and more of necessity. And Missus Warren or
Kitty Warren, she is somebody who was looking at the
life of pain and misery and instead decided to take
charge of her own life by going into a line
(04:34):
of work which other people would turn the noses up at.
In doing this, she was able to provide for a daughter,
She was able to find a place for herself in
high society. And the thing is that that same high
society has certain prejudices against exactly what Missus Warren had
(04:56):
to do in order to get to where she is,
including her own daughters, the ways that she admires her mother,
the ways that she looks down upon her mother, for
the fact that it's an interesting thing. At one point,
Vivi admires her mother for what she does, but at
(05:17):
another point, when she finds out that her mother is
still actually in the she's still in the still in
the profession when she doesn't really need to be, she
looks down upon her. It's an interesting kind of look
where there's a lot of different ways to approach the
(05:37):
situation and approach the profession at the World's Orders profession,
and it's kind of up to the audience to decide
whether anyone is actually correct. There's several other characters in
play as well. It's not just about the two Warren women,
although several of them seem to be keen suitors for
(05:59):
Vivian's Vivvy's hand in marriage, including Frank Gardner played by
Ruben Joseph, his father, Reverend Samuel Gardner played by Kevin Doyle,
and Sir George Croft's played by Robert Gleisner, who is
actually a partner of Kitty Warren in the profession that
(06:24):
she is that she indulged in. Now Never having seen
an actual live presentation of this play, I can't tell
how this performance of it compares. I believe that a
lot of a lot of it had to have been
cut down in order to get it to a shorter
(06:46):
run time by its director Domotic Cook. The thing is,
it does kind of lessen some of the supporting roles,
I would assume because a lot of them, they'd seem
only exist. The characters seem only exist just to provide
just very limited feedback to Viv and to her mother.
(07:12):
There's not really they don't really exist much as characters
in this play, which is why I went so long
without even talking about them. That would, however, be the
only major issue that I would have with with this play.
It's just that some of the some of the side
characters feel a little bit underdeveloped. Because Viv and her
(07:38):
mother are played incredibly by Bessie Carter and Emilda Staunton.
I believe that it's become a little bit of a
tradition for a real life mother daughter to play these
two roles, and it really does pay off here. There's
two major emotional scenes through in the in the play
(07:59):
where basically everything is put out on the table, and yeah,
I mean the actor that gets the lion's share is
definitely Milda Stanton as she pretty much tells her daughter
why she is where she is in her life and
why she doesn't want to give it up. Starton is
(08:21):
an incredible actress, and I mean this is supposed to
be a completely live performance. I can't say for certain
whether there were any alternate takes done or what the
what any kind of Hollywood magic, even though it is
the entire point of this the National Theater Live Project
(08:44):
is it's supposed to be basically theater on just on film.
But the problem it's absolutely perfect, just the way that
that that she delivers a role, and that that has
me wondering like did she were there any mistakes or
(09:04):
is she really just that incredible of an actress. But
I mean she has a five time Olivia Award winner
Amilda Stalton I'm talking about here, so maybe she just
really is that perfect in the in her performance. The
creative team also included a lighting design by John Clark,
(09:25):
sound designed by Christopher Shutt, and the very look of
the play is something kind of interesting. The entire most
of the players is set in a garden as the
characters discuss and talk to each other, but to show
the passage of time, the the set will rotate and
(09:51):
the characters will move around, and it's an interesting thing
and I kind of, like I said, I would like
to see a comple leak production of this, and one
in I would like to actually watch it in theater.
But I think that this is a very interesting way
to watch to experience this theater play. And considering that
(10:15):
this is the first time that I've actually watched a
Bernhard Shaw production or a National Theater production on film,
I think it's kind of an interesting thing that I
wouldn't mind diving into again in the future. My review
of this, it's a little tricky because, like I said,
(10:36):
I haven't I've watched the movies. I'm into film, I'm
into theater, but this is kind of like stuck between two,
like what do you how do I review this? I
would have to I would have to give this a
four out of five because I really did enjoy it,
but just not having that live the actual live experience itself,
(11:00):
I can't give an absolutely perfect score that I'd feel
that such a performance would warrant. Not having been able
to watch it performed live myself. So the film is
National Theater Lives production of Missus Warren's Profession and it
(11:21):
should be playing at all, well, it should be playing
at certain niche cinemas. I would suggest checking out flickstot
com dot Au to see local cinemas that might be
playing it, and it's definitely one that I would recommend
checking out
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.