The Washington Stage Guild Will Perform CAESAR & CLEOPATRA

The Washington Stage Guild will close its 2025-2026 season with a return to their most favored playwright, George Bernard Shaw, and his rarely produced Caesar & Cleopatra, newly adapted and directed by Artistic Director/Founding Company Member Bill Largess.

In his Stage Guild debut, four-time Helen Hayes Award nominee Craig Wallace plays Caesar with Hannah Taylor (WSG’s Faithless) as Cleopatra, along with company member Laura Giannarelli (Accused!), Matty Griffiths (Happy Days), Ryan Michael Neely and Chris Stinson (from The One Good Thing).

From Artistic Director Bill Largess: “We are delighted to have Craig Wallace, one of the Washington theatre community’s brightest lights, join us for the first time. His voice and bearing will bring Shaw’s Caesar to thrilling life.”

Performances will be April 9 thru May 3, 2026 at the Washington Stage Guild’s home, The Undercroft Theatre in the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Opening/Press performance is Sunday, April 12 at 2:30pm.

Under an Egyptian moon, the aging Julius Caesar meets teenage Cleopatra by chance one night. With turmoil afoot as Cleopatra and her younger brother vie for the throne, Caesar helps the young queen grow into a great ruler favoring wisdom, honor, and clemency. With the palace under siege by insurgents, Caesar might not be able to keep the country together or even escape alive — let alone manage the headstrong Cleopatra. DC’s premiere producer of Shaw stages this slimmed down version (by artistic director Bill Largess), a riveting exploration of power, politics, vengeance, and mercy.

Craig Wallace (Caesar) is excited to make his Washington Stage Guild debut. He has appeared in multiple productions in The Washington DC area including Folger Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Everyman Theatre, Studio Theatre, Mosaic Theatre, Round House Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre. His regional credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Hangar Theatre, among others. Craig holds a BFA from Howard University; an MFA from Pennsylvania State University; and he’s studied at the Royal National Theatre in London. He has received four Helen Hayes Awards nominations.

*Bill Largess (Adaptor/Director) is a founding member of WSG and the current Artistic Director. His WSG credits include An Unbuilt Life, Man & Superman, his own adaptation of Dante’s Inferno, as director, Murder in The Cathedral and Pygmalion, performing in an evening of Beckett plays at the 2000 International Beckett Festival, and appearing at nearly every D.C.-area theatre company, as well as nationally. His work has been nominated five times for Helen Hayes Awards.