George Bernard Shaw’s take on the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, is a historical howler. It says something that the plot of the 1963 film extravaganza, Cleopatra, famous for its off-screen romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, hews cons iderably closer to the historical record.  Shaw’s script for Caesar and Cleopatra is also something of a monster, five acts occupying over 100 pages in my edition, chock full of minor characters and subplots. Washington Stage Guild (WSG) Artistic Director Bill Largess can’t do much about the history, but he does a fine job of paring the piece down to a manageable two hours and seven characters, while losing none of the key points in the relationship between its two principals. Craig Wallace as Caesar and Hannah Taylor as Cleopatra in ‘Caesar and Cleopatra.’ Photo by DJ Corey Photography. Craig Wallace’s Caesar is the very picture of gravitas, an “original” as Shaw intended. Shaw commented in his notes to the play that Caesar, “in order to produce an impression of complete disinterestedness and magnanimity … has only to act with entire selfishness; and this is perhaps the only sense in which a man can be said to be naturally great” (emphasis in the original). When he exercises clemency over defeated foes, for example, it is not out of kindness but rather to gain future advantage and avoid wasting resources on prisoners. Wallace shows us the kind of leader who exerts power while seldom raising his voice. Wallace’s Caesar is also someone who, as the playwright intended, has a sense of humor. In the first scene, when Caesar comes upon the silly, frightened teenage Cleopatra, who believes that the Romans will eat her, Caesar has a grand time leading her on until his identity dawns on the girl.  In that initial scene, Hannah Taylor’s Cleopatra, privilege and all, cannot help being completely adorable. As the play proceeds, Caesar coaches her to become a commanding queen. Somewhat like Henry Higgins with respect to Eliza Doolittle, Caesar believes it is a dominating man’s job to train a woman to fulfill her destiny. “Have I not made a woman of you after all?” he asks toward the end of the play. While Caesar clearly likes Cleopatra, his mentorship is a matter of strategy, not altruism. In the tumultuous, chaotic politics of the last years of the Roman Republic, allies are essential. The two find each other useful.  Cleopatra changes under the direction of Caesar’s guidance, with Taylor becoming more in command with each scene. The fast-moving events of the play, like Cleopatra being thrown into the sea at one point, have a maturing effect. The progression of her character arc is evident in Elizabeth Morton’s costume design, with each stage of Cleopatra’s growth represented by her increasingly elaborate, regal, and quite lovely outfits. At play’s end, Caesar bids her farewell, saying, “I do not think we shall meet again.” She is ready to rule on her own. TOP: Laura Giannarelli as Ftatateeta, Ryan Michael Neely as the Sentinel, Hannah Taylor as Cleopatra, and Chris Stinson as Apollodorus; ABOVE: Matty Griffiths as Rufio, Hannah Taylor as Cleopatra, Chris Stinson as Apollodorus, and Craig Wallace as Caesar, in ‘Caesar and Cleopatra.’ Photos by DJ Corey Photography. This is one of the points at which Shaw jumps the historical shark. Cleopatra was 20 or 21 when she met Caesar, not 16 as portrayed in the play. She was already deeply involved in the political struggles of the time before they met. The Caesar/Cleopatra relationship is played as wholly platonic, almost paternal on Caesar’s part, with nary a whisper of an erotic subtext. (In his plays, as in his personal life, Shaw was famously averse to sex.) By the time the historical Caesar left Egypt, he and Cleopatra already had a son together. She went with Caesar to Rome and was there at the time of his assassination. In the play, her attraction to Mark Antony is portrayed as a teenage crush on a hot guy. In history, their complicated and ultimately fatal relationship, as much political and military as romantic, did not take shape until the civil wars that followed Caesar’s murder. None of this detracts from the fun of the play or the delights of Shaw’s words and ideas. Shaw, for example, cannot resist taking a poke at British imperialism. When he has a character say, “Rome will produce no art in itself, but it will buy up and take away whatever the other nations produce,” I picture Shaw browsing the Egyptian galleries in the British Museum. In addition to the sterling performances of the two leads, WSG’s supporting cast shines. Laura Giannarelli is a frighteningly formidable Ftatateeta, Cleopatra’s chief nurse and de facto guardian. Matty Griffiths, as Rufio, is the most rough-hewn, plainspoken, honest, and loyal soldier any commander could ask for. On the other hand, Pothinus, played by Ryan Michael Neely, is a slippery political operative seeking to undermine Cleopatra, through whom Caesar readily sees. The lighthearted Apollodorus (Chris Stinson), carpet merchant and art lover, lends a sweet accent even when serious political and military goings-on threaten the main characters. Scenic designer John Dahm Robertson’s set features two large blocks representing the Egyptian-built environment of the story, joined by a lower central wall over which the characters look to view the contending armies. The sound design (Thom J. Woodward) provides movie-theme-like music to set the mood in some scenes, along with well-timed individual cues, such as splashes as characters jump into the water at one point. Caesar and Cleopatra is one of Shaw’s least-performed plays, and WSG has done Washington theatergoers a service by presenting a top-notch, readily understandable, well-paced production featuring excellent acting by the entire cast.  Running Time: Two hours, including one 10-minute intermission. Caesar and Cleopatra plays through May 3, 2026, presented by Washington Stage Guild, performing at The Undercroft Theatre at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets ($60; $50 for seniors and $30 for students; with a limited number of discounted $16 tickets available for each performance) online.  SEE ALSO:Washington Stage Guild closes 40th season with ‘Caesar and Cleopatra,’ starring Craig Wallace (news story, March 16, 2026) ...read more read less