Play review – “Caesar and Cleopatra” by GB Shaw

Famous Shaw play which brings his unique dry and witty take to the bantering rulers. Cleopatra is a child, kittenish and capable of great charm and rages; Caesar is an aging sly ruler, not without vanity but holding the whip in their generation gap relationship (which seems sex-less). There’s some classic rom com stuff – she doesn’t know he’s Caesar for the first act – and the humour undercuts the Historical-ness of it all eg “I will always get my carpets from you” (NB was the joke about “Lesbian wine” intended?). It’s not without drama, eg the death of the servant (Shaw knew his structure). A clear influence for Mankciewicz’s Cleopatra – this is presumably why the first half of that film was so superior to the second.