Felicity Kendal Tranfers Mrs Warren to West End???

Felicity Kendal may be back in the West End in the new year. The Theatre Royal Bath revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession, in which she’s currently starring on tour, is tipped to transfer to London’s Comedy Theatre for a three-month season from mid-March.

Written in 1894 but not performed until 1902, Mrs Warren’s Profession was one of Shaw’s most provocative plays. In it, serious-minded Cambridge graduate Vivie Warren discovers how her mother turned to prostitution to fund their family’s comfortable lifestyle. Mrs Warren’s continued involvement in the world’s oldest profession sets the pair at odds.

In Michael Rudman’s revival, which opened in Bath in October, Kendal is joined by Lucy Briggs-Owen as Vivie. The play was last seen in the West End at the Strand Theatre (now the Novello) in 2002 in a centenary production helmed by Peter Hall and starring Hall’s daughter Rebecca as Vivie alongside Brenda Blethyn in the title role (See News, 12 Jul 2002).

Felicity Kendal’s most recent West End credits include The Vortex, Amy’s View, Jumpers, Happy Days, Fallen Angels and, earlier this year, Simon Gray’s posthumous The Last Cigarette.