George Bernard Shaw believed that theatre audiences of the 1890s deserved more than the hollow spectacle and sham he saw displayed on the London stage. But he also recognized that people wanted to be entertained while educated, and to see purpose mixed with pleasure.
In these two plays of ideas, Shaw employed traditional dramatic forms – Victorian melodrama, the history play and the adventure story – to turn received wisdom upside down. Set during the American War of Independence, ‘The Devil’s Disciple’ exposes fake Puritanism and piety, while ‘Caesar and Cleopatra’, a cheeky riposte to Shakespeare, redefines heroism in the character of the ageing Roman leader.
