Caesar and Cleopatra (play)

Caesar and Cleopatra (Shavian: ·𐑕𐑰𐑟𐑩𐑮 𐑨𐑯𐑛 ·𐑒𐑤𐑰𐑩𐑫𐑐𐑨𐑑𐑮𐑩) is a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw that depicts a fictionalised account of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. It was first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in Shaw's 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans. Shaw based his plot on Theodor Mommsen's The History of Rome, which presents an admiring depiction of Caesar as a strong leader and great man, contrasting his piece with Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, which was based on histories by Plutarch and Holinshed. Shaw focused on the background of Roman interference in the affairs of Alexandria, which he saw as akin to the British imperialism of his day. He also portrayed Cleopatra as sixteen years old to downplay the sexual relationship between the title characters and focus on the political story.

The play was first performed in a single staged reading at Newcastle upon Tyne in March 1899, to secure the copyright, starring Mrs Patrick Campbell and Nutcombe Gould, though Shaw said that he had written the role of Caesar with Johnston Forbes-Robertson in mind. Campbell resisted Shaw's concept of her character and portrayed it more maturely. It was not staged again until March 1906, when it was played unsuccessfully in Berlin in a German translation, with cuts. Shaw's text was fully given a full staging in New York later in 1906 and in London in 1907, both starring Gertrude Elliott and Forbes-Robertson.

Numerous productions followed over the decades, and the play has been adapted for cinema, radio, television and the musical stage. The part of Caesar has been played by such actors as Alan Badel, John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, Cedric Hardwicke, Rex Harrison, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Claude Rains and Godfrey Tearle. Cleopatras have included Peggy Ashcroft, Claire Bloom, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Vivien Leigh, Lilli Palmer, Vanessa Redgrave and Dorothy Tutin.