Caesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
, was first staged in 1901 and first published with
Captain Brassbound's ConversionCaptain Brassbound's Conversion is a play by G. Bernard Shaw. It was published in Shaw's 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans . The first American production of the play starred Ellen Terry in 1907....
and
The Devil's DiscipleThe Devil's Disciple is an 1897 play written by Irish dramatist, George Bernard Shaw. The play is Shaw's eighth, and after Richard Mansfield's original 1897 American production it was his first financial success, which helped to affirm his career as a playwright...
in his 1901 collection,
Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed at Newcastle-on-Tyne on March 15, 1899. The first London production was at the Savoy Theatre in 1907.
The famous scene in which Cleopatra, concealed in a rolled-up carpet, is smuggled into Caesar's presence was credited by
Otto SkorzenyOtto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he commanded a rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
as the inspiration for his doing the same to his kidnapping victim
Miklós Horthy, Jr.Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya II was the younger son of Hungarian regent Admiral Miklós Horthy and, until the end of World War II, a politician.-Biography:...
in 1944 during
Operation PanzerfaustOperation Panzerfaust, known as Unternehmen Eisenfaust in Germany, was a military operation to occupy the Kingdom of Hungary conducted in October 1944 by the German Military Forces . The operation was also known as Operation Mickey Mouse...
.
Plot
The play has a prologue and an "Alternative to the Prologue". The prologue consists of the Egyptian God
RaRA is an abbreviation or code which may refer to :Science* Right ascension, an astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system...
addressing the audience directly, as if he could see them in the theater. He draws a contrast between the old Rome, which was poor and little, and the new Rome, which is rich and huge. He says that
PompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey /'pɑmpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
represents the old Rome and Caesar represents the new Rome. The gods favored Caesar, according to Ra, because he "lived the life they had given him boldly". Ra recounts the conflict between Caesar and Pompey, their battle at
PharsaliaPharsalia is a Roman epic poem by the poet Lucan, telling of the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Great. Pharsalia is a reference to the Battle of Pharsalus, which occurred in 48 BC, near Pharsalus, Thessaly, in northern Greece...
, and Pompey's eventual assassination in Egypt at the hands of
Lucius SeptimiusLucius Septimius was an Ancient Roman soldier stationed in Egypt, remembered by history as one of the assassins of Pompey the Great.Septimius was the head of the Roman troops serving in the Egyptian army, at a time when Egypt was a vassal state of Rome. Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 B.C. following...
.
In "An Alternative to the Prologue", the captain of Cleopatra's guard is warned that Caesar has landed and is invading Egypt. Cleopatra has been driven into
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
by her brother,
PtolemyPtolemy XIII Theos Philopator was one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.- Co-ruler of Egypt, inner turmoil :...
, with whom she is vying for the Egyptian throne. The messenger warns that Caesar's conquest is inevitable and irresistible. A Nubian watchman flees to Cleopatra's palace and warns those inside that Caesar and his armies are less than an hour away. The guards, knowing of Caesar's weakness for women, plan to persuade him to proclaim Cleopatra—who may be controllable—Egypt's ruler instead of Ptolemy. They try to locate her, but are told by Cleopatra's nurse, Ftatateeta, that she has run away.
(The film version of the play, made in 1945, used the Alternative Prologue rather than the original one.)
Act I opens with Cleopatra sleeping between the paws of a
SphinxA sphinx is a zoomorphic mythological figure which is depicted as a recumbent lion with a human head. It has its origins in sculpted figures of Old Kingdom Egypt, to which the ancient Greeks applied their own name for a male monster, the "strangler", an archaic figure of Greek mythology...
. Caesar, wandering lonely in the desert night, comes upon the sphinx and speaks to it profoundly. Cleopatra wakes and, still unseen, replies. At first Caesar imagines the sphinx is speaking in a girlish voice, then, when Cleopatra appears, that he is experiencing a dream or, if he is awake, a touch of madness. She, not recognizing Caesar, thinks him a nice old man and tells him of her childish fear of Caesar and the Romans. Caesar urges bravery when she must face the conquerors, then escorts her to her palace. Cleopatra reluctantly agrees to maintain a queenly presence, but greatly fears that Caesar will eat her anyway. When the Roman guards arrive and hail Caesar, Cleopatra suddenly realizes he has been with her all along. She sobs in relief, and falls into his arms.
Act II. In a hall on the first floor of the royal palace in Alexandria, Caesar meets King Ptolemy Dionysus (aged ten), his tutor
TheodotusTheodotus of Chios was the rhetoric tutor of the young Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII.- Biography :Theodotus of Chios was a trained rhetorician and the tutor of Ptolemy XIII. He was one of the three influential men who led the guardianship for the young Egyptian king after the death of Ptolemy XII...
(very aged),
AchillasAchillas was one of the guardians of the Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, and commander of the troops, when Pompey fled to Egypt in 48 BC...
(general of Ptolemy's troops), and
PothinusPothinus , a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra VII, thus starting a civil war, and for having Pompey decapitated and presenting the severed head to Julius...
(his guardian). Caesar greets all with courtesy and kindness, but inflexibly demands a tribute whose amount disconcerts the Egyptians. As an inducement, Caesar says he will settle the dispute between the claimants for the Egyptian throne by letting Cleopatra and Ptolemy reign jointly. However, the rivalry exists because, even though the two are siblings and already married in accordance with the royal law, they detest each other with a mutual antipathy no less murderous for being childish. Each claims sole rulership. Caesar's solution is acceptable to none and his concern for Ptolemy makes Cleopatra fiercely jealous.
The conference deteriorates into a dispute, with the Egyptians threatening military action. Caesar, with two legions (three thousand soldiers and a thousand horsemen), has no fear of the Egyptian army but learns Achillas also commands a Roman army of occupation, left after a previous Roman incursion, which could overwhelm his relatively small contingent.
As a defensive measure, Caesar orders Rufio to take over the palace, a theatre adjacent to it, and Pharos, an island in the harbor accessible from the palace via a causeway that divides the harbor into eastern and western sections. From Pharos, which has a defensible lighthouse at its eastmost tip, those of Caesar's ships anchored on the east side of the harbor can return to Rome. His ships on the west side are to be burnt at once. Britannus, Caesar's secretary, proclaims the king and courtiers prisoners of war, but Caesar, to the dismay of Rufio, his military aide, allows the captives to depart. Only Cleopatra (with her retinue), fearing Ptolemy's associates, and Pothinus (for reasons of his own), choose to remain with Caesar. The others all depart.
Caesar, intent on developing his strategy, tries to dismiss all other matters but is interrupted by Cleopatra's nagging for attention. He indulges her briefly while she speaks amorously of Mark Antony, who restored her father to his throne when she was twelve years old. Her gushing about the youth and beauty of Mark Antony are unflattering to Caesar, who is middle-aged and balding. Caesar nevertheless, impervious to jealousy, makes Cleopatra happy by promising to send Mark Anthony back to Egypt. As she leaves, a wounded soldier comes to report Achillus, with his Roman army, is at hand and that the citizenry is attacking Caesar's soldiers. A siege is imminent.
Watching from a balcony, Rufio discovers the ships he was ordered to destroy have been torched by Achillo's forces and are already burning. Meanwhile, Theodotus, the savant, arrives distraught, anguished because fire from the blazing ships has spread to the Alexandrian library. Caesar does not sympathize, saying it is better that the Egyptians should live their lives than dream them away with the help of books. As a practicality, he notes the Egyptian firefighters will be diverted from attacking Caesar's soldiers. At scene's end, Cleopatra and Britannus help Caesar don his armor and he goes forth to battle.
Act III. A Roman sentinel stationed on the quay in front of the palace looks intently, across the eastern harbor, to the west, for activity at the Pharos lighthouse, now captured and occupied by Caesar. He is watching for signs of an impending counter-attack by Egyptian forces arriving via ship and by way of the Heptastadion, (a stone causeway spanning the five miles of open water between the mainland and Pharos Island). The sentinel's vigil is interrupted by Ftatateeta (Cleopatra's nurse) and Apollodorus the Sicilian (a patrician amateur of the arts), accompanied by a retinue of porters carrying a bale of carpets, from which Cleopatra is to select a gift appropriate for Caesar.
Cleopatra emerges from the palace, shows little interest in the carpets, and expresses a desire to visit Caesar at the lighthouse. The sentinel tells her she is a prisoner and orders her back inside the palace. Cleopatra is enraged, and Apollodorus, as her champion, engages in swordplay with the sentinel. A centurion intervenes and avers Cleopatra will not be allowed outside the palace until Caesar gives the order. She is sent back to the palace, where she may select a carpet for delivery to Caesar. Apollodorus, who is not a prisoner, will deliver it since he is free to travel in areas behind the Roman lines. He hires a small boat, with a single boatmen, for the purpose.
The porters leave the palace bearing a rolled carpet. They complain about its weight, but only Ftatateeta, suffering paroxysms of anxiety, knows Cleopatra is hidden in the bundle. The sentinel, however, alerted by Ftatateeta's distress, becomes suspicious and attempts, unsuccessfully, to recall the boat after it departs.
Meanwhile, Rufio, eating dates and resting after the day's battle, hears Caesar speaking somberly of his personal misgivings and predicting they will lose the battle because age has rendered him inept. Rufio diagnoses Caesar's woes as signs of hunger and gives him dates to eat. Caesar's outlook brightens as he eats them. He is himself again when Britannus exultantly approaches bearing a heavy bag containing incriminating letters that have passed between Pompey's associates and their army, now occupying Egypt. Caesar scorns to read them, deeming it better to convert his enemies to friends than to waste his time with prosecutions; he casts the bag into the sea.
As Cleopatra's boat arrives, the falling bag breaks its prow and it quickly sinks, barely allowing time for Appolodorus to drag the carpet, and its queenly contents safe ashore. Caesar unrolls the carpet and discovers Cleopatra, who is distressed because of the rigors of her journey and even more so when she finds Caesar too preoccupied with military matters to accord her much attention. Matters worsen when Britannus, who has been observing the movements of the Egyptian army, reports the enemy now controls the causeway and is also approaching rapidly across the island. Swimming to a Roman ship in the eastern harbor becomes the sole possibility for escape. Apollodorus dives in readily and Caesar follows, after privately instructing Rufio and Britannus to toss Cleopatra into the water so she can hang on while he swims to safety. They do so with great relish, she screaming mightily, then Rufio takes the plunge. Britannus cannot swim, so he is instructed to defend himself as well as possible until a rescue can be arranged. A friendly craft soon rescues all the swimmers.
Act IV. Six months elapse with Romans and Cleopatra besieged in the palace in
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
.
Cleopatra and Pothinus, who is a prisoner of war, discuss what will happen when Caesar eventually leaves and disagree over whether Cleopatra or Ptolemy should rule. They part; Cleopatra to be hostess at a feast prepared for Caesar and his lieutenants. and Pothinus to tell Caesar that Cleopatra is a traitress who is only using Caesar to help her gain the Egyptian throne. Caesar considers that a natural motive and is not offended. But Cleopatra is enraged at Pothinus' allegation and secretly orders her nurse, Ftatateeta, to kill him.
At the feast the mood is considerably restrained by Caesar's ascetic preference for simple fare and barley water versus exotic foods and wines. However, conversation grows lively when world-weary Caesar suggests to Cleopatra they both leave political life, search out the Nile's source and a city there. Cleopatra enthusiastically agrees and, to name the city, seeks help from Ra, who is her favorite god.
The festivities are interrupted by a scream, followed by a thud: .Pothinus is murdered and his body thrown from the roof down to the beach. The besieging Egyptians, both army and civilian, are enraged by the killing of Pothinus, who was a popular hero, and they begin to storm the palace. Cleopatra claims responsibility for the slaying and Caesar reproaches her for taking shortsighted vengeance, pointing out that his clemency towards Pothinus and the other prisoners has kept the enemy at bay. Doom seems inevitable, but then they learn that reinforcements, commanded by
MithridatesMithridates or Mithradates is the Hellenistic form of an Iranian theophoric name, meaning "given by the deity Mithra". It may refer to:Rulers*Mithridates I of Parthia , "Great King" of Parthia...
of Pergamos have engaged the Egyptian army. With the threat diminished, Caesar draws up a battle plan and leaves to speak to the troops. Meanwhile, Rufio, realizes Ftatateeta was Pothinus' killer, so he kills her in turn. Cleopatra, left alone and utterly forlorn discovers the bloodied body concealed behind a curtain.
Act V is an epilogue. Amidst great pomp and ceremony, Caesar prepares to leave for Rome. His forces have swept Ptolemy's armies into the sea, and Ptolemy, himself, is dead by drowning. Caesar appoints Rufio governor of the province and considers freedom for Britannus, who declines the offer in favor of remaining Caesar's servant. A conversation ensues that foreshadows Caesar's eventual assassination. As the gangplank is being extended from the quay to Caesar's ship, Cleopatra, dressed in mourning for her nurse, arrives. She accuses Rufio of murdering Ftatateeta. Rufio admits the slaying, but says it was not for the sake of punishment, revenge or justice: He killed her without malice because she was a chronic menace, to be disposed of as mere vermin. Caesar approves the execution because it was not influenced by emotion. Cleopatra remains unforgiving until Caesar renews his promise to send Mark Antony to Egypt. That renders her ecstatic as the ship starts moving out to sea.
Themes
Shaw wanted to prove that it wasn't love but politics that drew Cleopatra to
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. He saw the Roman occupation of ancient Egypt as similar to the British occupation that was occurring during his time. Caesar understands the importance of good government, and values these things above art and love.
Shaw's
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
has often been compared to that of Nietzsche. Their shared admiration for men of action shows itself in Shaw's description of Caesar's struggle with
PompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey /'pɑmpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
. In the prologue the god
RaRA is an abbreviation or code which may refer to :Science* Right ascension, an astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system...
says, "the blood and iron ye pin your faith on fell before the spirit of man; for the spirit of man is the will of the gods."
A second theme, apparent both from the text of the play itself and from Shaw's lengthy notes after the play, is Shaw's belief that people have not been morally improved by
civilizationA civilization is a complex society or culture group characterized by dependence upon agriculture, long-distance trade, state form of government, occupational specialization, population, and class stratification.-Definition:...
and
technologyTechnology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment...
. A line from the prologue clearly illustrates this point. The god
RaRA is an abbreviation or code which may refer to :Science* Right ascension, an astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system...
addresses the audience and says, "ye shall marvel, after your ignorant manner, that men twenty centuries ago were already just such as you, and spoke and lived as ye speak and live, no worse and no better, no wiser and no sillier."
Another theme is the value of clemency. Caesar remarks that he will not stoop to vengeance when confronted with Septimius, the murderer of
PompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey /'pɑmpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
. He throws away letters that would have identified his enemies in Rome, instead choosing to try to win them to his side. Pothinus remarks that Caesar doesn't
tortureTorture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of...
his captives. At several points in the play, Caesar lets his enemies go instead of killing them. The wisdom of this approach is revealed when Cleopatra orders her nurse to kill
PothinusPothinus , a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra VII, thus starting a civil war, and for having Pompey decapitated and presenting the severed head to Julius...
because of his "treachery and disloyalty" (but really because of his insults to her). This probably contrasts with historical fact. The murder enrages the Egyptian crowd, and but for
MithridatesMithridates or Mithradates is the Hellenistic form of an Iranian theophoric name, meaning "given by the deity Mithra". It may refer to:Rulers*Mithridates I of Parthia , "Great King" of Parthia...
' reinforcements would have meant the death of all the protagonists. Caesar only endorses the retaliatory murder of Cleopatra's nurse because it was necessary and humane.
Stage Productions
- The play was first performed in March 1899 by Mrs Patrick Campbell
Mrs Patrick Campbell was a British stage actress.- Early life and marriages :Campbell was born Beatrice Stella Tanner in Kensington, London, to John Tanner and Maria Luigia Giovanna, daughter of Count Angelo Romanini...
's company at the Theatre Royal, NewcastleThe Theatre Royal is a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was designed by local architects John and Benjamin Green as part of Richard Grainger's grand design for the centre of Newcastle, and was opened on 20 February 1837 with a performance of The Merchant...
.
- Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
wrote the part of Caesar for Shakespearean actor Johnston Forbes-RobertsonSir Johnston Forbes-Robertson was an English actor and theatre manager. He was considered the finest Hamlet of the nineteenth century and one of the finest actors of his time, despite his dislike of the job and his lifelong belief that he was temperamentally unsuited to acting.-Early life:Born in...
, who played it opposite his wife Gertrude Elliott.
- A 1925 Broadway
Broadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
production starring Lionel AtwillLionel Atwill was an English stage and film actor born in Croydon, London, England.He began his stage career in 1905 in England, and had become a star in Broadway theatre by 1918, but was most famous for his horror roles in the 1930s...
and Helen HayesHelen Hayes was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of only ten people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
was a major hit that opened the Guild Theatre.
- Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
and Vivien LeighVivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won two Best Actress Academy Awards for playing "southern belles": Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she had also played on stage in London's West End.She was a...
played the title roles in repertory with Shakespeare's Antony and CleopatraAntony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Life of Markus Antonius and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Parthian War to...
in 1951 at London's St James's TheatreThe St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell for the tenor and theatre...
and later on BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
.
- John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor/director/producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
played Caesar at the Chichester Festival in 1971. He was Shaw'sGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
first choice for the role in the 1945 filmCaesar and Cleopatra is a 1945 film starring Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh, produced and directed by Gabriel Pascal from the 1901 play by George Bernard Shaw. The film was nominated an Academy Award for Best Art Direction . -Plot synopsis:...
but declined the offer after meeting with the director Gabriel PascalGabriel Pascal was a Hungarian film producer and director.Born in Arad, Transylvania, Austria–Hungary in 1894, Pascal was the first film producer to bring the plays of George Bernard Shaw successfully to the screen...
and taking an instant dislike towards him.
- Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald “Rex” Carey Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won both an Academy Award and a Tony Award.-Youth and stage career:...
played Caesar on BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
in 1977, recreating his Academy Award nominated role from the film CleopatraCleopatra is a 1963 film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Mario Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall and Martin Landau. The...
(1963). Elizabeth AshleyElizabeth Ashley is a distinctively husky-voiced American actress who first came to prominence as the ingenue in the Broadway play Take Her, She's Mine, which earned her a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play....
portrayed Cleopatra.
- Between 1962 and 1963 a Greek stage production of the play was shown in Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
and CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
with actress Aliki VougiouklakiAliki Vougiouklaki was a Greek actress. She was considered as one of the most popular and successful actresses of Greek cinema.-Biography:...
in the role of Cleopatra.
- A 2008 Stratford Shakespeare Festival production, directed by Des McAnuff
Desmond McAnuff is the Canadian-American artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and director of musical theatre of such Broadway productions as Big River, The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys...
, starred Christopher PlummerChristopher Plummer, CC is a Canadian theater, film and television actor. In a career that spans over five decades and includes substantial roles in film, television, and theater, Plummer is perhaps best known for the role of Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music...
as Caesar and Nikki M. James as Cleopatra. It has also been released as a film.
Film and Television Versions of the Play
Caesar and Cleopatra was the basis for a lavish 1945 motion picture starring
Claude RainsClaude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 47 years; he later held American citizenship. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them The Invisible Man, the corrupt senator in Mr...
and
Vivien LeighVivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won two Best Actress Academy Awards for playing "southern belles": Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she had also played on stage in London's West End.She was a...
and produced by
Gabriel PascalGabriel Pascal was a Hungarian film producer and director.Born in Arad, Transylvania, Austria–Hungary in 1894, Pascal was the first film producer to bring the plays of George Bernard Shaw successfully to the screen...
. Shaw collaborated closely on this production. See
Caesar and Cleopatra (1945 film)Caesar and Cleopatra is a 1945 film starring Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh, produced and directed by Gabriel Pascal from the 1901 play by George Bernard Shaw. The film was nominated an Academy Award for Best Art Direction . -Plot synopsis:...
.
After seeing part of the filming of the movie at Denham Studios in London, Shaw remarked, "What scope! What limitless possibilities!... Here you have the whole world to play with!"
There have also been two major television productions of the play. The first was in 1956, produced as part of the anthology series
Producers' ShowcaseProducers' Showcase, an Emmy Award-winning American anthology television series, was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth Monday at 8pm ET for three seasons,...
, on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
. It starred
Claire BloomClaire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
,
Cedric HardwickeSir Cedric Webster Hardwicke KBE was a noted English actor.-Biography:Hardwicke was born in the village of Lye, in Warwickshire, England, the son of Edwin Webster Hardwicke by his spouse Jessie . He attended Bridgnorth Grammar School in Shropshire and then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic...
,
Farley GrangerFarley Granger is an American actor. In a career spanning several decades, he perhaps is known best for his two collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Rope in 1948 and Strangers on a Train in 1951.-Early life:...
,
Jack HawkinsJohn Edward "Jack" Hawkins was an English film actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman...
and
Judith AndersonDame Judith Anderson, AC, DBE was an Australian actress of stage and screen, who was also nominated for a Grammy and an Oscar...
. The second version, shown in 1976, was also telecast by
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
, and starred
Geneviève BujoldGeneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying Anne Boleyn in Anne of the Thousand Days ....
,
Alec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE, was an English actor. He featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. Guinness later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
,
Clive FrancisClive Francis, son of actors Raymond Francis and Margaret Towner, was born in Eastbourne on 26 June 1946.His father played Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart in the 1960s series No Hiding Place and his mother still acts today - most recently she played Jira, Anakin Skywalker's friend, in...
, Margaret Courtenay, and
Iain CuthbertsonIain Cuthbertson was a Scottish character actor. At 6' 4", he was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive 'gravelly' heavily accented voice.-Early life:...
. It was telecast on the
Hallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television. It has had a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and still continuing today. From 1954 onward, all of their productions have been shown in color, although color television productions were extremely rare in 1954...
.
There has also been an audio adaptation of the play, produced on Caedmon Records, starring
Max AdrianMax Adrian was a Northern Irish stage, film and television actor and singer. He was a founding member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre....
as "Caesar",
Claire BloomClaire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
as "Cleopatra" and
Judith AndersonDame Judith Anderson, AC, DBE was an Australian actress of stage and screen, who was also nominated for a Grammy and an Oscar...
as "Ftatateeta".
The 2009 Stratford Festival production starring
Christopher PlummerChristopher Plummer, CC is a Canadian theater, film and television actor. In a career that spans over five decades and includes substantial roles in film, television, and theater, Plummer is perhaps best known for the role of Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music...
in the role of Caesar, and Nikki M. James as Cleopatra was shown in very limited release in cinemas on January 31, 2009.
External links