FOLLOWING the success of The Glass Menagerie and Cider with Rosie, Cheltenham's very own Everyman Theatre Production Company will return to the stage with the ground-breaking play, Mrs Warren's Profession.

Debuting on the Cheltenham stage prior to its national tour, theatre-goers can catch the brand new production of George Bernard Shaw’s play from Friday 19 to Saturday, June 27.

Sue Holderness and Christopher Timothy are set to star in the show, which is a bold step for the Everyman - a theatre that is mostly a receiving house.

Vivie Warren, a young Cambridge graduate, is horrified to learn that her education and entire luxurious life-style has been financed by her mother’s career in the world’s oldest profession.

Due to its frank portrayal of Mrs Warren’s profession, this rarely performed and groundbreaking play was originally banned in England by the Lord Chamberlain.

Written in 1894, it was not allowed a public performance for the next thirty years and during its first performance in New York, the police stopped the play and arrested the cast.

The role of Mrs Warren is considered to be one of the greatest female acting roles and this production explores the choices women of the time were forced to make.

In this production Sue Holderness (Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass) stars in the title role, alongside Christopher Timothy (All Creatures Great and Small; Doctors; Dial M for Murder).

Sue Holderness said: “I’m very excited to be back at the Everyman in Cheltenham and to be taking Mrs Warren’s Profession on tour to some gorgeous venues. It’s such a terrific play and Mrs Warren is a wonderful character to play. I seem to be type cast as an old tart.”

The cast also includes Emily Woodward as Vivie, Christopher Bowen as Praed, Ryan Saunders as Frank Gardner and Richard Derrington as Reverend Samuel Gardner.


The production is presented by the Everyman Theatre Company and is directed by Paul Milton, the Everyman Theatre’s Creative Director with design by Dawn Allsopp.


*Mrs Warren’s Profession is at Everyman Theatre, Regent Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1HQ from Friday, June 19 to Saturday, June 27. Tickets: £13 - £28 available from the Box Office on 01242 572573.