Shakespeare in the Park's Caesar-Style Trump Assassination Isn't PC Enough for Conservatives

From Esquire

UPDATE: The Public Theater has released a statement, via American Theatre magazine, defending the Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar. "Our production of Julius Caesar in no way advocates violence towards anyone," the statement reads. "Shakespeare's play, and our production, make the opposite point: those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a terrible price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save."

Read the full statement below:

Back in the late 16th century, a fellow by the name of William Shakespeare wrote a play called Julius Caesar about the assassination of the infamous Roman leader. The play has been performed thousands of times in the last 400-something years starring everyone from John Wilkes Booth to Denzel Washington. And throughout the last few centuries, the original Shakespeare source material has been adapted to fit the times. In 1937, for example, Orson Welles famously dressed his characters in Nazi uniforms and drew parallels between Caesar and Fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini.

But of course, not even the volatile times of World War II can compete with the drama of conservative outrage in modern American politics.

At the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Public Theater's latest production of Julius Caesar features a title character with a straw-colored comb over, an ill-fitting suit, and trashy gold everything. The character is never once called Donald Trump (because he is, obviously, Julius Caesar), and in fact, director Oskar Eustis has only added three words to the script, modifying one line to: "If Caesar had stabbed their mothers on Fifth Avenue, they would have done no less." It's also a pretty fitting association, considering the character of Julius Caesar is a narcissistic asshole.

But that hasn't stopped right-wing propaganda machines Breitbart and Fox News from trying to stir up some shit that just isn't there. Last weekend, Breitbart ran an article with the headline ""Trump' Stabbed to Death in Central Park Performance of 'Julius Caesar.'" And Fox News ran, surprisingly, an even less responsible headline that forgot to even mention the title of the play: "NYC Play Appears to Depict Assassination of Trump."

In response, two sponsors have pulled support from The Public Theater. Delta tweeted out the news this weekend, saying, "No matter what your political stance may be, the graphic staging of Julius Caesar at this summer's Free Shakespeare in the Park does not reflect Delta Air Lines' values. Their artistic and creative direction crossed the line on the standards of good taste. We have notified them of our decision to end our sponsorship as the official airline of The Public Theater effective immediately."

And Bank of America pulled its support hours later, with a statement saying: "Bank of America supports arts programs worldwide, including an 11-year partnership with the Public Theater and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public Theater chose to present Julius Caesar in such a way that was intended to provoke and offend. Had this intention been made known to us, we would have decided not to sponsor it. We are withdrawing our funding for this production."

A cynic might say, "But what if the show had depicted an Obama-like Caesar who is assassination on stage? Would there not be outrage?" Well, in 2013, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis did just that-and there was no mass outrage.

As this production comes on the heels of Kathy Griffin's shit-stirring image of her holding the decapitated head of Donald Trump, which earned her the ire of those on both sides of the political spectrum (and cost her a regular hosting gig on CNN's New Year's Eve coverage), it's worth noting that the tone of the Shakespeare in the Park production is much more artful than Griffin's attention-grabbing provocation. Even thematically, the play does not advocate for the assassination of a political leader-anyone who's read even just the Cliff's Notes of Julius Caesar knows the murder of Caesar throws Rome into chaos and destroys their democracy. A high school senior could write a one sentence summary that's just: "The moral of Julius Caesar is that assassination is bad."

And if that isn't enough, the director released an artistic statement pretty clearly summing up the themes of the play: "Those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic methods pay a terrible price and destroy their republic," Eustis wrote. "Julius Caesar is about how fragile democracy is."

But don't expect anyone in these times to actually try to understand anything. They just like to get mad about it first.

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