Delta Air Lines and Bank of America have pulled their sponsorships of Shakespeare in the Park's Julius Caesar due to the main character's resemblance to Donald Trump.
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and it is believed to have been written in 1599. It noted its staging has "provoked heated discussion" but "such discussion is exactly the goal of our civically-engaged theater; this discourse is the basis of a healthy democracy". "Those who attempt to defend democracy by undemocratic means pay a bad price and destroy the very thing they are fighting to save". Delta Airlines and Bank of America have now pulled their sponsorship.
"Director Oskar Eustis previously told Playbill that he chose to open the summer season with Julius Caesar as of November 9, 2016", the day after Election Day.
"Their artistic and creative direction crossed the line on the standards of good taste", the company said.
"We stand completely behind our production of Julius Caesar". Comedian Kathy Griffin recently learned the hard way that depicting the death of a USA president isn't amusing and is a not a sponsor magnet for actors or comedians.
The Public Theater is a venerable NY institution that began with the creation of the Shakespeare in the Park program and eventually expanded to a multi-stage Off Broadway venue that has birthed Broadway successes including "Hamilton" and "A Chorus Line".
In the production, Caesar meets his end when he is stabbed to death by women and minorities on stage.
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The rest of the jobs, CNBC writes, "are engineering and technical jobs that were never scheduled to be cut". Trump said in December that the plant's workers would have a " great Christmas " as a result of his deal.
Trump, for his part, has yet to respond to the play.
"I wonder how much of this "art" is funded by taxpayers? Serious question, when does "art" become political speech and does that change things?"
The Frame reached out to the Public Theater for comment earlier.
He also urged to others to donate to the Public Theater in light of the lost sponsors.
"Fargo" and "The Leftovers" actress Carrie Coon was among those who heeded Willimon's call.
Jesse Green is co-chief theater critic for the New York Times.
The National Endowment for the Arts, which Trump, a Republican, once proposed eliminating, said that while the Public's Shakespeare programing has received its grants in the past none was awarded for "Julius Caesar" or for funds supporting the New York State Council on the Arts' grant for the Public. It has been in previews at Central Park's Delacorte Theater since May 23 and runs through June 18.
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