NYC theatre refuses to buckle on depiction of Trump as Caesar

NEW YORK — The knives are out for an edgy production of Julius Caesar that’s cutting a little too close to home for some fans of the White House.

Delta Air Lines and Bank of America have pulled their sponsorship of The Public Theater’s version of Julius Caesar that portrays a Donald Trump-like dictator in a business suit with a long tie who gets knifed to death onstage. The Public refused to back down on Monday, noting that the heated 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 tweeted to both Delta and Band of America: “What a mistake. Actually reading Julius Caesar might help in the future. Your copy is in the mail.”

Though the Public’s version of William Shakespeare’s classic play is unchanged from its 400-year-old original, the production portrays Caesar with a gold bathtub and a pouty Slavic wife. Trump’s name is never mentioned.

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?”

Delta said “artistic and creative direction crossed the line on the standards of good taste.” American Express, which in the past has sponsored productions at the Public’s downtown theatre, said it is not a sponsor of Shakespeare in the Park or this production of Julius Caesar, adding: “We do not condone this interpretation of the play.”

Bank of America claimed the Public chose to present the play “to provoke and offend” without the bank’s knowledge, saying it would not have sponsored it had it known.

Julius Caesar ends its run Sunday. The National Endowment for the Arts said that while the Public’s Shakespeare programming has received grants in the past, none was awarded for Julius Caesar or for the New York State Council on the Arts’ grant for the Public.

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. Sponsors of the Guthrie Theater apparently had no objections — including Delta — when that show landed in Minneapolis.