SYDNEY Theatre Company’s lavish production of George Bernard Shaw’s classic, Mrs Warren’s Profession, will play at Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong later this month.

The production, directed by Sarah Giles, features gorgeous period costumes and a cast featuring the superb talents of Helen Thomson and Drew Forsythe.

Helen Thomson is well known to Merrigong audiences for her performances in Sydney Theatre Company’s In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play and Belvoir’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. Drew Forsythe is known for his performances in annual favourite, Sydney Theatre Company’s The Wharf Revue.

Helen Thomson plays the pragmatic Kitty Warren in the once-banned Shaw classic. As her daughter Vivie (Lizzie Schebesta) learns that her comfortable upbringing, generous monthly allowance and independence have been funded by her mysterious mother’s unorthodox profession, the stage is set for one of Shaw’s wittiest and most provocative plays. Mrs Warren’s Profession explores the precarious and perplexing bond between a mother and daughter, as well as thorny issues of class and privilege and the finer points of moral relativism.

Sarah Giles is a Co-Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company with Kip Williams and Sarah Goodes. In 2011, she was awarded the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Director of an Independent Production for Arts Radar and Griffin Independent’s The Ugly One by Marius von Mayenburg.

• Venue: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (IPAC) Burelli St, Wollongong.

• Performance times: Wednesday April 10 8pm, Thursday April 11 6.30pm, Friday April 12 8pm, Saturday April 13 2pm & 8pm. Post-show Q&A: Thursday April 11 6.30pm. Captioned & audio-described performance: Saturday April 13 2pm.

• Prices: Adult: $72; Adult early week (Mon-Thurs)/Conc/Group 8+: $67; Conc/Group 8+ early week: $62; Under 30s: $46; School groups 8+: $20 (Transaction fees apply to phone and internet bookings)

• Tickets: Call the box office on (02) 4224 5999 or visit http://www.merrigong.com.au