Delta just stopped subsidizing free Shakespeare for lower/working/middle class people because in Julius Ceaser, Ceaser is assassinated.
— Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) June 11, 2017
New York’s Public Theater lost financial support from two high-profile corporate donors, Delta Air Lines and Bank of America, on Sunday amid intense criticism of its production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” which depicts the assassination of a Trump-like Roman ruler.
The companies’ decisions came after days of criticism online and in right-leaning media outlets that was amplified by Donald Trump Jr., a son of the president, who appeared to call into question the theater’s funding sources on Twitter on Sunday morning…
Bank of America followed hours later, saying it would withdraw financial support from the production of “Julius Caesar” but would not end its financial relationship with the theater, which a bank spokeswoman, Susan Atran, said had lasted for 11 years…
The play, which has been in previews since May 23, is scheduled to open Monday at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park as part of the Public Theater’s free Shakespeare in the Park festival.
“Its depiction of a petulant, blondish Caesar in a blue suit, complete with gold bathtub and a pouty Slavic wife, takes onstage Trump-trolling to a startling new level,” Jesse Green of The New York Times wrote in his review.
The “vividly staged” production hews to the traditional interpretation of Shakespeare’s work, he wrote. “Even a cursory reading of the play, the kind that many American teenagers give it in high school, is enough to show that it does not advocate assassination. Shakespeare portrays the killing of Caesar by seven of his fellow senators as an unmitigated disaster for Rome, no matter how patriotic the intentions.”…
Other corporate sponsors of the Public Theater, including The Times, have also faced calls on social media to denounce the play or end their relationship with the Public.
A spokeswoman for The Times said the company, which has sponsored Shakespeare in the Park for 20 years, would not change course. In a statement, the company said: ”As an institution that believes in free speech for the arts as well as the media, we support the right of the Public Theater to stage the production as they chose.”…
So, give the Grey Lady credit where due… at least the credit of understanding that Ankh-Morpork New York City dwellers and paid NYT subscribers don’t care how badly the tender fee-fees of Lord Smallgloves and his yahoo online armies are wounded.
Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
The play's artistic director explicitly states that the message is that you *shouldn't* resort to violence. https://t.co/4w0sFWgLhF pic.twitter.com/2To8e9YQWP
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) June 11, 2017
We are withdrawing our funding pic.twitter.com/MlaONF82FN
— Bank of America News (@BofA_News) June 12, 2017
"But they are all honorable men."
Nope. They are gutless, ignorant, unread fools. https://t.co/UYeurv0Spq— David Simon (@AoDespair) June 12, 2017
THE WHOLE POINT OF THE PLAY IS THAT POLITICAL VIOLENCE TURNED A TYRANT INTO A MARTYR ENSURING CENTURIES OF OPULENT GOD-EMPERORS. FUCK!
— Salacious Materiel (@ZeddRebel) June 12, 2017
Wait til Fox finds out there's a Shakespeare play about a vindictive, delusional old man and his three scheming adult children.
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) June 11, 2017