New production of Mrs Warren's Profession to open at Bath’s Theatre Royal

George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession opens at the Theatre Royal Bath in a new production starring mother and daughter Caroline Quentin (Life Begins, Dickensian, Men Behaving Badly) as Mrs Warren and Rose Quentin (Doc Martin) as Vivie.

They are joined by Simon Shepherd (Peak Practice, Casualty, Chancer) as Sir George Crofts, Matthew Cottle (The Windsors, Game On) as Reverend Gardener, Stephen Rahman-Hughes (EastEnders) as Mr Praed and Peter Losasso as Frank Gardner. Directed by Anthony Banks, Mrs Warren’s Profession appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Wednesday 9 to Saturday 19 November before touring to venues across the UK.

What is Mrs Warren’s profession? Mrs Warren’s daughter Vivie has never really known much about her mother. A sensible young woman, she has enjoyed a comfortable upbringing, a Cambridge education, a generous monthly allowance and now has ambitions to go into Law. Is it conceivable that her privilege and respectability has been financed from the profits of the world’s oldest profession? How will Vivie react when she finds out the startling truth about her mother’s business empire and that freedom comes at an emotional price?

Shaw’s acid test of a mother-daughter relationship is one of his wittiest and most provocative plays. Written in 1894 but banned for thirty years by a Lord Chamberlain who found it “immoral and improper”, Mrs Warren’s Profession is a ripe attack on English hypocrisy and its “fashionable morality."

Caroline Quentin, who stars as Mrs Warren, has twice won the British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress and a Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. She has recently starred in Jack Absolute Flies Again at the National Theatre and played Wes in the new Sky series The Larazus Project. Caroline’s television roles in numerous long-running series include Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly, Mrs Bumble in Dickensian, Maggie in Life Begins, Jan in Big Bad World, DCI Janine Lewis in Blue Murder, Maddy Riley in Life of Riley, Kate in Kiss Me Kate, Maddy in Jonathan Creek and Deirdre in Stephen Poliakoff’s Dancing on the Edge. She took part in the 2020 season of Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Johannes Radebe. Caroline has also presented series including ITV’s Cornwall with Caroline Quentin and the BBC2’s The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes. She has performed on stage at the RSC, National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre and in the West End. Previously at Bath’s Theatre Royal, Caroline has starred in Relative Values in 2013, prior to a West End transfer, and The London Cuckolds in 1998.

The role of Sir George Crofts is played by Simon Shepherd. Well known on television for starring as Dr Will Preston in ITV’s Peak Practice, his many screen credits also include Shakespeare and Hathaway, Casualty, Father Brown, Death in Paradise, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries and Chancer, and the films Wuthering Heights and Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V. Simon’s many theatre credits include the West End productions of Hay Fever, The Duck House, Art, Rapture and Posh. Simon has previously starred at the Theatre Royal Bath in Art in 2005, The Rocky Horror Show in 2007, Born in the Gardens in 2008 for The Peter Hall Company, Hay Fever in 2014 and My Cousin Rachel in 2019.

Matthew Cottle plays the role of Reverend Samuel Gardener. Marking his ninth production at the Theatre Royal since 2001, Matthew has most recently been seen by Bath audiences in Rough Crossing in 2019, How The Other Half Loves in 2017 direct from the West End, and in Quartermaine’s Terms in 2013 prior to a West End transfer. His numerous stage credits also include productions at the National Theatre, in the West End and on UK tour. Best known on television for the BAFTA-nominated series Game On, Matthew’s many screen credits also include The Windsors, Plebs, Man Down, Life Begins, A Perfect State, Chaplin and The Dresser with Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen. 

Stephen Rahman-Hughes appears as Mr Praed. As a series regular, Stephen played the role of Adam Bateman in 74 episodes of EastEnders in 2018 and 2019. His television credits also include the role of Detective Inspector Vikesh Dasari in Emmerdale in 2006 and 2007, and appearances in Doctors, Bad Girls, Dream Team and CBBC’s Almost Never.

Vivie Warren is played by Caroline’s real-life daughter, Rose Quentin. Shortly after graduating in 2019, Rose starred in the horror movie York Witches Society, and recently appeared on tour in a new stage version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Wendi Peters and Bill Ward. Her television credits include Doc Martin, Doctors and Little Crackers. The cast is completed by Peter Losasso as Frank Gardner.

Presented by Theatre Royal Bath Productions, Mrs Warren’s Profession is directed by Anthony Banks and designed by David Woodhead. Lighting design is by David Woodhead and sound design is by Ben and Max Ringham.

Anthony Banks was Associate Director at the National Theatre from 2004 to 2014, where he commissioned and developed one hundred new plays for NT Connections. His many directing credits include the national tours of After Miss Julie, The Girl on the Train, Gaslight and My Cousin Rachel, all of which appeared at the Theatre Royal Bath between 2016 and 2020.

Dramatist, literary critic and socialist spokesman, Bernard Shaw was also a freethinker, a supporter of women's rights and an advocate of equality of income. His prolific literary output also includes Pygmalion, Arms and the Man, Candida, Man and Superman, Heartbreak House and Saint Joan, for which he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.

Mrs Warren’s Profession appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Wednesday 9th to Saturday 19th November. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on +44 (0)1225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk.