Mrs. Warren's Profession - The Pear Avenue Theatre

The Pear Avenue Theatre proudly presents
Mrs. Warren’s
Profession
by George Bernard Shaw
Director
Ray Renati
Producer
Diane Tasca
Stage Manager
Conner Brown
Lighting Designer
Ben Hemmen
Set Design
Ron Gasparinetti
Costume Designer
Hector Zavala
Sound Designer
Ray Renati

. The Ensemble (in order of speaking)
Praed ........................................Brian O’Connor
Miss Vivie Warren ...................Roselyn Hallett
Mrs. Kitty Warren ....................Diane Tasca
Sir George Crofts. .....................Kenneth Boswell
Frank Gardner .........................William J. Brown III
Rev. Samuel Gardner ................John Musgrave
Time / Place
Act 1: Garden at Hindhead View, summer afternoon, 1902
Act 2: Parlor at Hindhead View, that evening
Act 3: Garden at the rectory, the next day
Act 4: Honoria Fraser’s office, London, 2 days later
There will be a 10-minute intermission between Acts 2 and 3.
The Production Team
Director ....................................Ray Renati
Producer ..................................Diane Tasca
Stage Manager .........................Conner Brown
Production Manager ..............Patricia Tyler
Set Designer & Painter ..........Ron Gasparinetti
Lighting Designer ...................Ben Hemmen
Costume Designer ..................Hector Zavala
Sound Designer ......................Ray Renati
Publicity Directors..................Jeanie K. Smith & Shannon Stowe
Postcard Designer ..................Patricia Tyler
Program Consultant ...............Susan Petit
Website Designer ...................Ray Renati
Director’s Note
There is a figure that inhabits the Egyptian wing of the Louvre in
Paris called The Seated Scribe. It was sculpted by an unknown artist
sometime between 3800 and 1710 B.C. It simply depicts an Egyptian
scribe sitting crossed-legged, holding a partially rolled papyrus scroll in
his left hand. His right hand must have held a brush, now missing. If you
were to spend a day racing around the Louvre, you could easily pass it by.
However, if this scribe happened to catch your eye as you were hurrying
off to see the Mona Lisa, you might be stopped in your tracks. What
appeared from a distance to be rather ordinary may suddenly move you
to the very core of your being. For this little scribe has eyes that seem to
look through you. His eyes penetrate your walls of pretense. All at once
you see that he sees you, really sees you, and you become captivated,
unable to look away. You might even stay there for an hour or so just
staring in wonder. And so it is with Mrs. Warren's Profession. The more you
hear the words spoken through the voices of talented actors, the longer
they work their way into your mind, the more you realize that you have
had the good fortune of being forever changed by something universally
human and infinitely wise.
--Ray Renati
About the Playwright and the Play
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) left school at fifteen to work as an
office boy, but shortly before turning 20 he abandoned his native Dublin
and followed his mother and sisters to London. His home had been full
of classical music, his emotionally distant mother made him ambitious,
and London gave him the chance to increase his knowledge and use his
abilities. He educated himself by frequenting the National Gallery and the
library of the British Museum, where he focused on economics and
music; his heroes were Marx and Wagner. By 1886 he was publishing
incisive and opinionated art criticism, and soon he was also reviewing
musical and theatrical performances. He had become a Fabian socialist
(advocating the gradual abolition of capitalism), a vegetarian, an antivivisectionist,
a believer in women’s rights, and a persuasive advocate of
these causes in lecture halls, in books and pamphlets, and on the London
pavements.
To reach a wider audience, Shaw became a playwright. Between
1885 and 1894 he wrote Widowers’ Houses, The Philanderer, and Mrs.
Warren’s Profession, but they could not be performed publicly in England
until 1907, 1905, and 1925, respectively, because the censor would not

approve them. So in 1898 Shaw published them with a preface and
extensive stage directions which made them as easy to read as novels. A
rapid writer, by that date he had learned to disarm the censor and had
seen at least five of his plays produced, including Arms and the Man,
Candida, and The Devil’s Disciple. Among his more than 60 plays are Caesar
and Cleopatra, Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Misalliance (staged at the
Pear in 2006), and Pygmalion. In 1925 Shaw won the Nobel Prize in
Literature, and although he accepted the honor at his wife’s insistence, he
donated the money. He continued to write plays, essays, and criticism
until the end of his long life. Vigorous to the last, he died from
complications of a fall from a ladder while pruning a tree.
Like Mark Twain, Shaw was deeply moved by the plight of the
oppressed. As he himself said, both he and Twain “put things in such a
way as to make people, who would otherwise hang us, believe that we are
joking.” (Of course, if he had been fully committed to this approach
when he wrote Mrs. Warren’s Profession, he would no doubt have found a
way to appease the censor.) The late Victorian readers of Mrs. Warren’s
Profession thought the play was about sexual matters, but it is primarily
concerned with generational conflict, gender relations, and economic
facts.
A theme of particular relevance today concerns how the
characters get their money. Vivie has distinguished herself in the
mathematical tripos, a sort of exit examination at Cambridge (though, as
a woman, she is not entitled to a degree), and she expects to earn her
living. Sir George Crofts has become wealthy by investing inherited
assets, Sam Gardner has no religious vocation but an assured living as a
clergyman, Praed earns a living as an architect, Frank wants a rich wife
who will support him, and Mrs. Warren—well, the performance will fill
in that blank. The play asks us to judge these choices, and also asks
whether our own sources of income are defensible. Today, similar issues
of economics and morality arise in regard to sex tourism in Thailand,
factory work in China, and the scavenging of electronic waste in India on
the one hand, and our investments, purchases, and professions on the
other.
These are serious questions, but because Shaw was an
irrepressible jester, even as he asks us to examine our consciences, his
play will divert and amuse us.
--Susan Petit
Who’s Who in This Production
Ken Boswell (Sir George Crofts) is excited to be returning for his
second production with the Pear Avenue Theatre; Pear patrons
may remember him as Arnold in The Circle. Since then he has
appeared in Bus Barn’s The Government Inspector (Postmaster), Sylvia
(Greg), Little Shop of Horrors (Mushnik), Leading Ladies
(Jack/Stehanie), and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Ken
has also performed with City Lights in Noises Off (Selsdon), The Last Days of Judas
Iscariot (Honeywell) and, most recently, August: Osage County (Steve Heidebrecht).
Other productions include The Producers (Franz Liebkind) at Foothill and SF
Shakes’ Alice in Wonderland (the Hatter). When not performing, Ken teaches
theatre classes for young people.
William J. Brown III (Frank Gardner) is pleased to return to the
Pear after being seen in Bach at Leipzig, The Way of the World, and
Northanger Abbey. Other credits include On the Waterfront, Fighting
Mac!, Chekhov in Yalta, An Adult Evening with Shel Silverstein, Special
Forces, Homeland, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Country Wife, The Shawl,
The Tortilla Curtain, Enchanted April, Season’s Greetings, The Lion in Winter, Lewis and
Clark, Troilus and Cressida, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, King Lear, The Two
Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, Love’s Labors
Lost, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, and Hamlet. William was named a “Silicon Valley
Actor to Watch” by Wave magazine in 2010. He is also the founder of the
Arabian Shakespeare Festival.
Roselyn Hallett (Vivie Warren) is delighted to return to the Pear,
where she was last seen as Laura in The Glass Menagerie. Other
recent credits include The Best of Playground Festival (Playground),
Macbeth and The Tempest (SF Shakespeare Festival), Imaginary Love
(Hapgood Theatre Company), Home Below Zero (Bay Area Playwrights Festival),
Killer Joe (Renegade Theatre Experiment), Doubt (New Conservatory), Bellwether
(u/s, Marin Theatre Company), All’s Well That Ends Well (NY Public Theater at
Stanford), and Mrs. Warren's Profession (u/s, CalShakes). Rosie is a Stanford
University graduate and a company member at Playground. Learn more at
www.roselynhallett.com.
John Musgrave (Rev. Samuel Gardner), a retired mathematics
teacher and Shaw enthusiast, has been active in Bay Area theatre
for 30 years. He is delighted to join Diane Tasca in reprising their
roles from the original 2002 production of Mrs. Warren’s Profession.
He also appeared in the Pear’s other Shaw production, Misalliance.

Other credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Big Daddy), Twelfth Night (Sir Toby),
W;t (Dr. Kelekian), Hamlet (Polonius), Harvey (Elwood), My Fair Lady (Col.
Pickering), Annie Get Your Gun (Buffalo Bill), How to Succeed in Business … (J B
Biggley), Ragtime (Grandfather), The Music Man (Mayor Shinn), Anything Goes (Eli
Whitney), The Mikado (Pooh-Bah), Camelot (Merlin and Pellinore), and Show Boat
(Capt. Andy). John wants to thank his wife, Diane, for all her support and her
understanding of his passion for theatre.
Brian O’Connor (Mr. Praed) This is Brian’s second show at the
Pear; he was in No Good Deed with Diane and the gang last year.
Among the many Bay Area companies he has worked with are the
Asian American Theatre, the California Conservatory Theatre,
Stage Werx, the Livermore Shakespeare Festival, the San Francisco
Fringe Festival, and the California Shakespeare Festival. He sends love to his
family and friends for their support.
Diane Tasca (Mrs. Kitty Warren) is ever so pleased to be revisiting
her first role at the Pear—so many memories ago. She’s appeared
in numerous other plays at the Pear, including No Good Deed, Glass
Menagerie, Hay Fever, Long Day’s Journey, Night of the Iguana, Molly
Sweeney, Master Class, and Belle of Amherst. Her other recent local
appearances have been in Doubt (Sister Aloysius) at Bus Barn and Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf (Martha) at Palo Alto Players. A big thank you to Ray for his
sensitive, insightful directing, and to the cast and production team. And, as
always, love to Norm and John.
Theatre, and Shady Shakespeare are a few of the companies where you may
have seen his work. Visit www.thesetguy.com to learn more about Ron.
Ben Hemmen (Lighting Designer) returns to the Pear for Mrs. Warren's Profession,
having lit No Good Deed here last season and, more recently, Almost, Maine at Bus
Barn Stage and The Sorcerer for Lyric Theater; he also stage managed Doubt, A
Parable at Bus Barn. He wishes that the theatre business also returned 35% on
capital, but unfortunately the returns are more like ones from flower selling or
rag picking. Maybe we could start a summer company among the country set in
Atherton or Woodside, but we’d best be quiet about it, lest we attract the wrong
kind of attention. Questions/comments can be directed to ben@hemmen.com.
Ray Renati (Director) Ray’s prior directorial credits at the Pear include the 2011
production of Death of a Salesman, as well as Speed-the-Plow, Pick Up Ax, True
West, The Baltimore Waltz, and Pear Slices 2005. This year Ray was nominated for
a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award in Direction for Death of a Salesman.
Hector Zavala (Costume Design) is happy to be designing for the first time at the
Pear. He has worked as a set and costume designer and stage manager at several
other Bay Area theatres: 42 nd Street Moon, Masquers Playhouse, and Diablo
Theatre Company. In addition, he has acted onstage in Spain and in Mexico.
www.hectorzavala.com
Conner Brown (Stage Manager) has worked as a Bay Area stage manager since
moving to fabulous California in 2003. Favorite credits include six seasons with
Bus Barn Stage Company and three seasons with Festival Theatre
Ensemble/Los Gatos Shakespeare, as well as work with Berkeley Rep, Danville
Ballet, Diablo Ballet, Teatro Visión, Opera Academy of California, and
California Theatre Center. This is Conner’s second show at the Pear; she also
stage managed Bach at Leipzig earlier this season. Originally from Florida,
Conner earned a B.A. in theatre and spent a summer in New York before
settling in California. Now she spends her days providing engaging and fulfilling
programming, events, and classes for older adults at Vintage Senior Living in
San Jose.
Ron Gasparinetti (Scenic Designer) originally hails from New Jersey but has been
designing and building scenery in the Bay Area since 1996. Palo Alto Players,
Dragon Productions Theatre, Pear Avenue Theatre, City Lights Theatre
Company, Bus Barn Stage Company, Stage One, 42 nd Street Moon, Hillbarn

Donors to the Pear
Root$ : $1000 +
Anonymous * Arts Council Silicon Valley * Evelyn Beamer
Norman Beamer & Diane Tasca * The BootStrap Foundation
Robyn & Paul Braverman * The Carter Family Foundation *
Catherine Garber * Kathleen Hall & Leslie Murdock
Sharmon Hilfinger & Luis Trabb Pardo * Richard & Anita Inz
Ann Kuchins * Roberta Morris & Phil Buchsbaum
Valerie Pagendarm * Mark & Theresa Rowland
Jan & Don Schmidek * Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Abe & Marian Sofaer * Theatre Bay Area
Lloyd Watts * Dr. Thomasyne Lightfoote Wilson
Branche$ : $200 - $999
Connie Allen & Doug Grieg * Beverley & Lee Altschuler * Anonymous
Carol & Ray Bacchetti * Rhoda Bergen * Martin Billik * Robyn &
Paul Braverman * Sandy Cademartori * Jean Colby * Jo Ellen Ellis
Diane Ellsworth * Carol & Ken Emmons * Rebecca Ennals * Nancy
Enzminger * Genevieve Firestone
Oscar & Theda Firschein * Ryan Fong * Tom & Charlene Giannetti
Sharon Graham * Kurt Gravenhorst * Florence & Franklin Howard
Barbara Ingram * Robin Jeffs * Margy Kahn
Terry & Mauri Kearney * William & Peg Kenney * Coralia Kuchins
The Phil Kurjian Fund * Joan Little & Marty Ragno
Elizabeth Lowenstein * The Lowney Family Fund
Margaret Lynch * Rina & Tom Mandey * Elyce Melmon * Robert &
Eloise Morgan * Carole & Edward Mullowney * Mary Murphy
Ross Nelson * Alan Phinney * Boaz & Aliza Porat Lindi Press
Bob Purvy * Jo Ann & Doug Rees * Ray & Katherine Renati *
Vivian Schatz Martha Seaver * Edna & Dan Shochat
John D. Stephens * Dana St. George & Gerry Gras
Patti & Wally Summers * Gloria Symon * Time-Warner, Inc
Mary Lou Torre * Onnolee & Orlin Trapp * Don & Sylvie Way
Barlow Westcott Mike Wilber * Renee Winick * Adam Wisnewski
Pear$: $100 - $199
Creighton Asato * Anne & Greg Avis * Candice Basham * Roslyn &
Arthur Bienenstock * Judith Bishop * Tom & Polly Bredt * Lawrence Breed
Louise & Robert Burton * Ariel & Pat Calonne * Louis Caputo
Mary Carter & Mark Roberts * Harve & Sandra Citrin * Joseph Colletti
Susan & Harry Dennis * Charlotte Dickson * Walt Doucett & Sally Hayse
Dave & Ruth Eakin * Emily & Par Edsell * Sharon & Grant Elliot * Kathy &
Bruce Fitzgerald * Frank Friedlander * Victor & Beverly Fuchs * Bennett &
Joan Gates * Dr. & Mrs. B.D. Gaynor * Adrienne Gillespie * Lynn Gordon &
David Simon * Martha & Bob Helseth * Gabrielle Higgins & Bill Steinmetz
Jeffrey Hungerford * Charlotte Jacobs * Kevin & Melinda Johnson * Christina
& Deepak Kamra * Pat Kapowich * Kay Mahon * Terrence McCarthy
Brenda Miller * Mary & Thomas Nee * * Jim & Barbara Newton Laura Nuhn
* Jill O’Nan * Judy Ousterhout * Natalie & Peter Panfili * Boaz Porat * Alex &
Laura Praszker * Frances & Donald Ragno * Jennifer & Donald Ragno *
Betty & Joe Renati * Tracy & Cynthia Rogers * Gary Rohloff Antoinette &
Dey Rose * Susan Rosenberg * Bill & Sherrean Rundberg Thomas & Noel
Ryan * Elaine Sausotte & Michael Keys Hall * Amy Schenone Rebecca
Schenone * Norma Schleunes * Steve Schumann * Christina & Maurice
Sciammas * Lewis Silver * Laura Stefanski Maggie Streets * Carol &
Douglas Tanner * David & Ondrea Tricaso * Elizabeth Truro & James Quinn
Lynne Weber * Robert Wenzlau & Julie Jomo * Caryn Huberman Yacowitz
Blossom$: To $99
Josephine Abel * Marlene Anderson * Midori Aogaichi * Shawna Bateman
Jane Benson * Mitchell Bolen * Gordon & Sharon Bower * Marina Brodskaya
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Carney * Daryl Carr * Harold Chapman * Judy Chiasson
Frank & Lorraine Collins * Dorothy Comstock * Caroline Cooper * David & Anne-Ly
Crump-Garay * Jean Cudlip * Nancy Davidson * Allison Davis * Martie DeGutis
Monica Devens * Bill Dodd * Joseph Durand * Deborah Dutton * Doris Dyen * Nicole
& Donald Ellis * Liz Elms * James & Dorothy Fadiman * Jewel Seehaus Fisher
Ronald Gentile * Jo Gilbert * Adrienne Gillespie * Elaine Goldman * Dean Goodman
Irene Grenier *Frances Hancock * Toni Heren * Byron Hubbel * Patricia Hughes
Christy Jerkovich * Jim Johnson * Earl Karn * Siobhan Kenney * Phyllis Koch *
Hilda Korner * Lisa LaRocca * Ernest Lieberman * Dena McFarland * Kathleen
McGeary * Cheryl McNamara * Richard Medugno * Tekla & Eric Nee * Clare Novak
David Payne * Patricia Peterson * Susan Petit * Jack & Susan Pines * Christine Wills
Price * Toby Reitman * Lester Roberts * Steven Rock * Diana Roome * Elaine
Rossignol * Robert Rothrock * Jean Scandlyn * Janine Schenone * Matt Schenone * Ray
Schenone * Gerry Schoennauer * Allegra Seale * Julia Seiff * Barbara & Skip Shapiro
Myrna Soper * Verna & Robert Spinrad * Nancy Ginsburg Stern * Burton Sukhov
Kevin & Barbara Susco * Beverley Taylor * Patricia Tyler & Ben Marks * Hava &
Oskar Vierny * Sherry Waki * Kristin Walter * Marilyn Walter * JoAnn & Bob Will
Lisa Wiseman * Vivie Zau * Irene Zubeck

Pear 2012-13 Season
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov 9/ 21 – 10/14
In Chekhov’s final masterpiece, Mme. Ranevskya returns home to find
her beloved estate up for auction. Pride, squabbles, and love (always love)
intervene. Chekhov called it a comedy—but who's doing the laughing
The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard 11/2 - 18
Meet Henry, a cerebral playwright who adores trashy pop music. When
he falls hard for Annie, he discovers that he has no idea who wrote the
book of love. Stoppard’s most personal play, witty and heartfelt.
Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage 1/11 - 27
This prize-winning play was inspired by Nottage’s grandmother, an
African-American seamstress who, stitch by stitch, sewed her way out of
grinding poverty. A powerful portrayal of determination and resilience.
The Apple Never Falls by Paul Braverman 2/22 – 3/10
World Premiere
It’s 1964, and a Strangler stalks a terrified Boston. Frankie Payne, the ginsoaked
but not quite burned-out detective, struggles with toxic family ties
and learns the hard way that the apple never falls far from the tree.
Pear Slices 2013 by The Pear Playwrights Guild 4/5 – 28
We congratulate our Pear Playwrights Guild on their tenth Slices. What
wonderful new confections will they serve up this time Always a treat,
always a surprise—don’t miss the next batch of these short new plays!
Hanging Georgia by Sharmon Hilfinger 5/24 – 6/9
Legendary painter Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz
join forces in a combustible love story. Created by the BootStrap Theater
ensemble (originators of Tell It Slant), this new play marks the Pear’s 75 th
production!
NEXT UP AT THE PEAR
The Cherry Orchard
by
Anton Chekhov
9/21 – 10/14
Join us for the Pear’s 70 th play!
In Chekhov’s classic (and final masterpiece), the
charming spendthrift Madame Ranevskya returns to
Russia from Paris to find her beloved estate put up for
auction to pay her debts. Family pride, neighborly
squabbles, and love (always love!) intervene to
make mischief. Chekhov called his play a comedy,
but who’s doing the laughing
Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts 6/28 – 7/14
Arthur’s a Polish-American former draft resister, as run down as his
Uptown Chicago donut shop. Enter Franco, a young African-American
man who dreams of being a writer and making the shop a happening
place. Endearing comedy about the redemptive power of friendship.