Julius Caesar director unbowed by threats

Oskar Eustis’ version of the Shakespeare play portrayed Caesar as an ego-driven populist with fluffy blond hair

NEW YORK — The theatre director who endured death threats and lost corporate sponsors after staging a Donald Trump-inspired version of Julius Caesar has a message to any artist fearful of facing similar backlash — don't flinch.

“We can’t allow ourselves to feel overwhelmed. We can’t allow ourselves to feel we’re completely isolated. We’re not,” Oskar Eustis, artistic director of The Public Theater, told The Associated Press.

“We're speaking for the majority of the country and we need to draw strength from that and step out and take the risks that will really fulfil the arts' historic function.”

Eustis sparked controversy when he chose to portray Caesar as an ego-driven populist with fluffy blond hair, a gold bathtub and a leggy Slovenian wife for his free Shakespeare in the Park summer production.

While Trump’s name was never mentioned, the backlash was swift after photos and video appeared online of the Trumpian Caesar dying in a bloody group stabbing in Act 3, as has happened onstage for some 400 years.

Some screamed that the production condoned the assassination of Trump, even though the play clearly warns those who commit political violence even for noble reasons about the futility of their actions. Several protesters stormed the stage and police are investigating threatening phone calls made to Eustis’ family.

“I thought we might provoke some response but what I thought is we’d provoke response to our production, and what we got was not a response to our production but a response to a completely slanted, biased reporting on a photograph and video tapes of our production,” said Eustis.

Delta and Bank of America pulled their sponsorships of the production and, perhaps most painfully, The National Endowment for the Arts, which Trump once proposed eliminating, made a point of saying it had no role in the show.

“The NEA being forced to distance themselves from our production is a very sad commentary on how incredibly vulnerable they feel as a federal agency. I don't have any criticism for them at all. They are fighting for their life,” said Eustis.

He said The Public Theatre, with deep roots in the community and wide financial support, will weather the storm. He said it has received more than 35,000 supportive emails, letters and social media comments, along with some 2,000 letters containing cheques.

What Eustis most fears is that the blowback will have a chilling effect on less secure theatre companies “because they’ll be afraid of the consequences.” Theater companies with Shakespeare in their name but nothing to do with The Public have already become targets of vitriol.

Arian Moayed, a Tony-nominated actor and artistic director of the innovative theatre company Waterwell watched the events unfold with dread. He was onstage in his own updated production of Hamlet, this one set in Persia in the early 20th century.

“What happened to The Public and Oskar is kind of the worst fear for any theatre-maker or artists of any field, mostly because we do live in a world where artistic freedom is all we have,” Moayed said.

The venerable Shakespeare & Company felt the collateral damage as far away as Lenox, Mass. It was the target of caustic emails and voicemails from people mistakenly assuming it had a role in the show.

Allyn Burrows, the artistic director, chose to use the controversy to engage, quietly emailing hatespewing critics back with a Julius Caesar synopsis and trying to tamp down the vitriol.

“We’re used to screaming around here. We’re a theatre company, right?”

While calling Eustis’ approach “bold,” Burrows said theatre companies must follow their own muses when making art and be prepared to explain it.