Noise Within’s Mrs. Warren

The essentials: In George Bernard Shaw’s forward-looking classic, a virtuous, self-reliant young woman is horrified to discover that the absent mother who funded her education and comfortable lifestyle from afar earned her wealth the oldest-fashioned way. The play was written in 1893 but banned from public performance until 1925 due to the frank examination of prostitution and its underlying socioeconomic causes.

Why this? Nowadays, it’s hard to remember what a rigorously argued, platitude-free debate over difficult moral questions even looks like. Guest director Michael Michetti (from Pasadena’s modernist Boston Court theater company) slyly heightens Shaw’s insight into feminist issues and social barriers by making the unrepentant brothel owner Mrs. Warren a self-made woman of color, played by Judith Scott (from TV’s “Snowfall”).

Details: A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. Runs in repertory; see website for schedule. Ends Nov. 18. $30-$84. (626) 3563100 Ext 1. or www.anoisewithin.org

The 99-Seat Beat is our weekly shortlist of offerings at 99-seat theaters and other smaller venues. Some (but not all) recommendations are shows we’ve seen; others have caught our attention because of the track record of the company, playwright, director or cast. It’s posted every Friday at latimes.com/arts.