Mrs. Warren's Profession, a play by George Bernard Shaw, at the American Airlines Theatre. We've seen a lot of top flight revivals of plays by Shaw including Heartbreak House, Pygmalion and Major Barbara at Roundabout. We've also seen excellent productions of Mrs. Warren's Profession. But this sizzling revival which features white hot performances by the great Cherry Jones and Sally Hawkins (of "Happy Go Lucky" fame) tops them all. These are two marvelous actresses at the top of their games, dueling as mother and daughter in this still relevant, provocative play.
For some reason, most of the critics didn't get Hawkins's performance, but we did, and the audience as a whole did last night. Multi dimensional - funny, sad, furious, resigned - and built with steel, Hawkins gives a brilliant portrayal of a role that is usually taken by an ingenue and conventionally played as such. Jones is the only Mrs. Warren we've seen to capture the earthiness of the role, her low down qualities, as well as her great heart. Her plea for women is universal, and because it comes from someone who is unabashedly vulgar, and not the usual madame masquerading as a patrician, it has much more punch. We very much liked the silky villainous Sir George Crofts by Mark Harelik and the hammy Mr. Praed of Edward Hibbert. The staging and the superb sets and costumes can't be bettered. This one goes in our Pantheon. It is not to be missed.
Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade A+