Let’s start with a few words from the king of quotes: ‘As yet, Bernard Shaw hasn’t become prominent enough to make any enemies, but none of his friends like him’. Another witty observation from fellow Irishman, Oscar Wilde, but one which was to be tested in the years to follow. Popular in the awards circuit, Shaw favoured controversy with his socialist beliefs and support of Stalinist USSR, and his works are thematically rife with his contempt for capitalism. This current co-production with the Royal Lyceum and Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Companies, is a classic Shaw in its social viewpoint, and a vehicle for his dismay at the money hungry world.

Harbouring what was once a shocking revelation, this well known work is less now about the discovery of Mrs Warren’s “profession”, and more about the relationship she has with her daughter, and the relationships all the characters have with money and status. At the turn of the 20th century, Mrs Warren (Paola Dionisotti) brings some gentlemen friends to visit the daughter (Emma Stansfield) she raised alone, but barely saw. What ensues is a trial of their mother/daughter relationship with a few home truths finally revealed.
With a return from director Tony Cownie after his success with Tartuffe last season, what immediately strikes about this play, and appeals to the contemporary, are the two strong female leads it centres on. With a reversal of the classic roles of the sexes, it’s the women that are concerned with business and supporting themselves, but the men with art and being supported through marriage. An idea new at the beginning of the 20th century, it’s far more relevant now, and although the struggle for women is less, an ASEA survey last year reported that 62% of CEOs were still male.

Dionisotti and Stansfield are exquisite in their roles, especially when playing alone together, with set and costume also accentuating their differences. Mrs Warren splashes about the stage in swirls of bright fuchsia and green, whilst Vivie remains earthy and monochrome (designer Neil Murray). It depicts Vivie’s grounded way of thinking, compared to her mother’s outlandish one. The stylised set also creates a border between Vive’s straight laced reality and Mrs Warren’s world of pretences, featuring a fairytale style cottage and emerald trees. In the end the two women are desperately similar in their desire for money and material wealth, sacrificing their emotional and family needs. It’s Shaw telling of the evil of capital driving a family apart; still strikingly relevant as possessions drive our existence.

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 10 Mar