Michael Moore donates US$10,000 to Trumpas-Caesar theatre

NEW YORK: American fi lmmaker Michael Moore has donated US$ 10,000 ( RM42,900) to a New York theatre that staged a controversial production of Julius Caesar in which the Roman emperor bears a striking resemblance to Donald Trump.

The play, in which Caesar appears as a blond businessman who tweets from his bathroom and is married to a woman with a thick Slavic accent — similar to Melania Trump — was strongly criticised by pro-Republican media, which denounced the assassination scene as a call to kill the president.

The 63-year- old director and vocal Trump opponent tweeted to his five million followers a photograph of the cheque, made out to The Public Theater, and called on his fans to support the establishment.

“I’m donating my total advance pay from my B’way show to Shakespeare in the Park after conservative media bullied Corp sponsors 2 pull out,” wrote Moore, who will make his own stage debut on July 28 with a one-man Broadway show on the rise of Donald Trump.

The Julius Caesar controversy fi rst broke out during preview showings, even before the play appeared at the “Shakespeare in the Park” theatre festival in New York’s Central Park. The few scheduled shows were played to packed audiences, while one was briefly interrupted by a female protester.

Sponsors Delta Airlines and Bank of America later announced they were withdrawing their support.

Artistic director Oskar Eustis defended the play as a parable for those trying to fi ght for democracy, while denying that it encouraged violence.

Many others have come out in support of the theatre and announced their intention to donate.

In May, Moore announced he was working on a “take down” documentary of Trump, titled “Fahrenheit 11/9” — a nod to the date Trump was elected, as well as Moore’s own fi lm “Fahrenheit 9/11.” — AFP