Bruce K. Sevy shepherds new works toward the stage as associate artistic director at Denver Center Theatre Company. He's been there 21 years, either onsite or as a visiting director, culminating as director of new play development from 1996 to 2002. That's when Sevy headed for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where he met artistic director Kent Thompson, who brought him back to Denver. Sevy is directing George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession, in which a young woman discovers the sordid way her mother paid for her schooling. He recently talked with Rocky theater critic Lisa Bornstein. Question: Who picked this play?

Answer: Kent brought it up on the list himself and I sort of went, 'Oh yeah, I love that play, I've always wanted to do it.' It's an early Shaw . . . where the play goes really stunned me when I saw it.

Q: What makes it still current?

A: I think you have women's issues in the play. It's amazing, as we've been rehearsing the play so many of our discussions have said, 'Well, that's still a problem.' Like so many Shaw plays, I think he was really pointing out the hypocrisies of the society.

Q: What would Mrs. Warren be doing today?

A: We've speculated a lot about that. From the sound of things, she's like this great manager of people.

Q: You were director of new play development, now you're back leading the New Play Summit, and already three commissions are scheduled for next season. Did you expect that?

A: It's going faster than I thought. We originally had a five-year plan, but a lot of it we're sort of moving more quickly on, which is great.

Q: You also hired a literary manager, which is kind of how I thought of you - what will this person do?

A: One of the things we want to do is provide dramaturgical work when we're doing plays like Mrs. Warren's, dead playwrights as well as new playwrights. This person will be able to do workshops of other plays while I'm in rehearsals. Outside of the Summit, we're finding that we want to do more in-house developmental readings, so I'm thrilled to have another hand on deck to help with it.

Q: Shaw is known for his humor - will we get to laugh?

A: You get some of it, mostly in the character of Frank, where he has these ironic pointed sentences. I would say most of the humor in this play is ironic. It's in a different vein than some of those other early plays like Arms and the Man. He called the plays unpleasant because he had more of a sense of a social reformer in these plays.

Q: Who are today's heirs of Shaw, carrying on the legacy?

A: Somebody with a real sense of language. The way he structures a sentence is so good. David Hare a little bit, it's sort of a British thing. There's a big scene between the two women in Amy's View (which Sevy directed at DCTC in 2001) and I flashed upon that, certainly in its political sense.

Mrs. Warren's Profession

• When and where: 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Saturdays through April 21, Space Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex

• Cost: $30 to $46

• Information: 303-893-4100

bornsteinl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5101

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