'Mrs. Warren's Profession' isn't so shocking in present day

In 1905, George Bernard Shaw’s play “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” about a powerful, wealthy woman who made her money in brothels opened in New York City. Once the show finished, the entire cast was arrested for the controversial show.

Currently, Central Square Theater’s production of the play (now through June 29), which Shaw wrote in 1893, has reapproached the work. Directed by Bedlam Theatre’s Eric Tucker, the show receives an updated setting but leaves much of the script the same. Onstage, scenic designer David R. Gammons opted for a conference room setting. Six lavender-colored leather chairs surround a long wood table set beneath a fixture with monitors displaying a series of numbers and other imagery by video designer Maxwell Mandell. All the action takes place around or on top of the table.

Due to this update, though, there are times when the show feels like an awkward mash-up of old and new. (Think phrases like “temperance restaurant” being juxtaposed with the sound of elevators dinging or voices over an intercom floating into the room.)

Still, the cast of the well-acted show is a good one. Sage actor and director Melinda Lopez portrays the role of Mrs. Warren, and Luz Lopez plays her daughter, Vivie Warren. Nael Nacer portrays Mrs. Warren’s affable, smartly dressed, art-loving friend Praed, and Barlow Adamson is the savvy businessman Sir George Crofts. Wesley Savick and Evan Taylor play Reverend Samuel Gardner and his son, Frank Gardner, who is impulsive and unkind to his father.

At the core of the narrative is the relationship between Mrs. Warren and her daughter Vivie, whom she doesn’t know very well. Vivie has benefited exponentially from her mother’s profession. She’s gone to the best schools abroad and has access to all the proper social circles in Victorian society. But she’s more interested in actuarial accounting than art, much to Praed’s chagrin. She’s also headstrong and arrogant.

Over time, Vivie learns of her mother’s work, and she’s outraged. When her mother assures her that she had no choice due to the pressures and lack of opportunities in society for women, Vivie seems to understand. But later, when she realizes her mother is still working as a madame, she decides she wants nothing more to do with her.

While the show is recognized for dealing with the taboo subject of sex work, the shock value of the show is lost in this production (and likely others set in more modern times). While sex work is still a hot-button topic in some respects, there are documentaries about brothels, as well as TV shows and movies that center these workers and the difficulties they face. There are also advocacy groups dedicated to the legalization of this line of work, aiming to put safety measures in place and make sure that workers receive health benefits. Still, even though we’re not living in the Victorian era, sex work still has a bit of a stigma.

What the show really seems to focus on is the importance of money and how, if you have enough of it, it may not matter how you got it (depending on who is asking). Either way, Vivie isn’t standing for her mother’s line of work or her money. Her change toward her mother comes off as abrupt and cold, especially since there’s no evidence that her mother has been vicious to her.

Also, the audience doesn’t really get to know Mrs. Warren — as the brothel owner or a woman. She talks of the past and how the prevalence of menial jobs with a few shillings pay pushed her to consider how to make her way in the world. But we don’t know if she’s kind or cruel to her workers, or if she has different plans for the future. There is one scene where Mrs. Warren and Vivie have it out that crackles with a bit of fire, but overall, the show, with such an outdated script, didn’t leave this audience member with much to chew on.

“Mrs. Warren’s Profession” runs through June 29 at Central Square Theater.