Bloodied, but unbowed
Theatre stands firm after criticism of Caesar as Trump in new production
The Public Theater is refusing to back down after backlash over its production of Julius Caesar that portrays a Donald Trump-like dictator in a business suit with a long tie who gets knifed to death onstage.
Delta Air Lines and Bank of America have pulled their sponsorship of the Public’s version of the play, but in a statement released Monday the theatre said it stands behind the production. It noted its staging has “provoked heated discussion” but “such discussion is exactly the goal of our civically engaged theatre; this discourse is the basis of a healthy democracy.”
Other defenders included Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, who wrote letters to the heads of Delta and Bank of America, arguing that dropping their support “sends the wrong message.” He writes: “Art matters. The First Amendment matters. Expression matters.”
He enclosed copies of the play with the letters.
“I hope you enjoy it — it is a classic, in any age,” he wrote.
Before Monday night’s performance, the play’s director, Oskar Eustis, delivered a statement, which he urged audience members to record on their cellphones.
“Neither Shakespeare nor The Public Theater could possibly advocate violence as a solution to political problems and certainly not assassination,” he said.
This modern-day Caesar’s violent death at the hands of conspirators comes not long after comedian Kathy Griffin was widely condemned for posing for a photograph in which she gripped a bloodied rendering of Trump’s head.
Though the Public’s version of William Shakespeare’s classic play is unchanged from its 400-yearold original, the production portrays Caesar with a gold bathtub and a pouty Slavic wife. Trump’s name is never mentioned, but backlash was swift.
On Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a Fox News story about the play and wrote, “I wonder how much of this ‘art’ is funded by taxpayers? Serious question, when does ‘art’ become political speech & does that change things?”
Delta responded by saying “artistic and creative direction crossed the line on the standards of good taste.”
Bank of America said the Public chose to present the play “to provoke and offend” without the bank’s knowledge: “Had this intention been made known to us, we would have decided not to sponsor it.”
Julius Caesar ends its run Sunday. The comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins in the park on July 11.
Theatre lovers were quick to point out that a national tour of Julius Caesar in 2012 by The Acting Company featured a Caesar played by a black actor in a modern business suit who had a resemblance to then-president Barack Obama, a Democrat. Sponsors of the Guthrie Theater, including Delta, apparently had no objections when that show landed in Minneapolis.
Laurence Maslon, an administrator and arts professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, said it was disingenuous for large corporations that have backed the Public for years and enjoyed co-opting its downtown cool vibe to sound alarmed now.
“You’ve got to know what you’re getting into,” he said, adding that the Public has “50 years of the most provocative, politically engaged work.”
Maslon also backed the director, Eustis, saying he’s “nothing if not brave.”
Maslon said he thinks any loss of funding the Public experiences from corporate defectors will be compensated for by donations from liberal grassroots groups and people worried about the apparent threat to artistic freedom.
“I can imagine any sense that this political regime is imposing a kind of censorship and the free market can help correct it will probably be good for the Public,” he said.