Caesar and Cleopatra (play)

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Caesar and Cleopatra is a 1901 play by George Bernard Shaw. It was first published as part of his 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans (together with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple).

The play has two layers. The first one deals with the fact that Shaw wanted to prove that it wasn't love but politics that drew Cleopatra to Julius Caesar. In his play, Shaw stresses the relations between the Roman and Egyptian conquerors. In contrast to what probably happened historically, Cleopatra successfully arranges for the murder of the eunuch Pothinus after he humiliates her in front of Caesar.

The famous scene in which Cleopatra is secretly brought inside a rolled carpet into Caesar's presence was credited by Otto Skorzeny as the inspiration for his doing the same to his kidnapping victim Miklós Horthy, Jr. in 1944 during Operation Panzerfaust.

[edit] Stage Productions

• Shaw wrote the part of Caesar for Shakespearean actor Johnston Forbes-Robertson, who played it opposite his wife Gertrude Elliott.
• A 1925 Broadway production starring Lionel Atwill and Helen Hayes was a major hit that opened the Guild Theatre.
• Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh played the title roles in repertory with Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra in 1951 at the St. James Theatre and later on Broadway.
• John Gielgud played Caesar at the Chichester Festival in 1971. He was Shaw's first choice for the role in the 1945 film but declined the offer after meeting with the director Gabriel Pascal and taking an instant dislike towards him.^[1]
• Rex Harrison played Caesar on Broadway in 1977, recreating his Academy Award nominated role from the film Cleopatra (1963).

[edit] Film and Television Versions of the play

Caesar and Cleopatra was the basis for a lavish 1945 motion picture starring Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh and produced by Gabriel Pascal. Shaw collaborated closely on this production. See Caesar and Cleopatra (1945 film).

There have also been two major television productions of the play. The first was in 1956, produced as part of the anthology series Producers' Showcase, on NBC. It starred Claire Bloom, Cedric Hardwicke, Farley Granger, Jack Hawkins and Judith Anderson. The second version, shown in 1976, was also telecast by NBC, and starred Geneviève Bujold, Alec Guinness, Clive Francis, Margaret Courtenay, and Iain Cuthbertson. It was telecast on the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

[edit] References

The Plays of George Bernard Shaw

Plays Unpleasant : The Philanderer, Mrs Warren's Profession, Widowers' Houses Plays Pleasant : Arms and the Man, Candida, The Man of Destiny, You Never Can Tell Three Plays for Puritans : Caesar and Cleopatra, Captain Brassbound's Conversion, The Devil's Disciple Back to Methuselah, a cycle of 5 plays : In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden), The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920 Other Plays : Androcles and the Lion, The Apple Cart, The Doctor's Dilemma, Fanny's First Play, Geneva, Heartbreak House, John Bull's Other Island, Major Barbara, Man and Superman, Misalliance, Pygmalion, Saint Joan