Fringe fest in Scottish capital takes on Trump
Donald Trump may not be planning to visit the United Kingdom this year but he’s become a very popular figure in Scotland’s capital.
Performers at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe festival — an annual buffet of hundreds of standup, theater and musical offerings — are roasting the US President in several shows, including Trumpageddon, Trumpus Interruptus: The Impeachment of Donald J. Trump, Locker Room Talk and Trump’d.
In Trump’d, a singing, dancing Trump, still in power in 2030, is being sought by a Mexican resistance group that’s pleading to be deported. “It is really important to poke fun,” said Adam Woolf, the show’s writer.
“When Trump is making really incendiary comments that could genuinely pose a threat to everyone on the planet, I think it is easy to be overwhelmed. It is important to have some sort of respite from that,” he said.
Zach Tomasovic wrote and stars in Trumpus Interruptus, which portrays the US President as a soft drink addict heavily under the influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tomasovic said the sound of laughter is one of the most powerful tools that artists have at their disposal.
The festival, which runs until Aug. 28, has often included shows with a biting, satirical bent, tackling everything from the Lockerbie bombing, the death of Princess Diana or Brexit. In 2012, Clinton: The Musical was nominated for best new musical and made it off-Broadway in 2015.
The theatre community has been quick to respond to the new President, including Robert Schenkkan’s play Building the Wall, a production of Julius Caesar in New York City with the title character portrayed as an ego-driven populist with fluffy blond hair and Me The People: The Trump America Musical, now playing in Manhattan.