Silke Jasso
A group of New York actors found inspiration in President Trump’s administration for their rendition of “Julius Caesar,” which can be viewed in the annual “Shakespeare in the Park” event.
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The Public Theater upped the ante this year by dressing Caesar to look like the president:
Take a look at @PublicTheaterNY's first Shakespeare in the Park production of 2017, a Trump-inspired Julius Caesar https://t.co/iTPiJMSSaq pic.twitter.com/t5VfDfZVRe
— Playbill (@playbill) May 30, 2017
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“I always go to Shakespeare in the park, but I wasn’t expecting to see this,” spectator Laura Sheaffer told Mediaite. Though Trump is never explicitly mentioned by name, Sheaffer said that the comparison was “blatantly obvious” to everyone in attendance.
“The actor playing Caesar was dressed in a business suit, with a royal blue tie, hanging a couple inches below the belt line, with reddish-blonde hair — just like Trump,” she described in the interview.
Sheaffer also recalled the infamous scene where Caesar is stabbed to death by Roman senators.
“They had the full murder scene onstage, and blood was spewing everywhere out of his body,” she said. “To be honest I thought it was shocking and distasteful.” Sheaffer said had it been any other president like former President Obama or former President Bush, “it would not have flown.”
Trump isn’t the only one who received a Shakespearean hat tip. Other characters in the play are dressed as First Lady Melania Trump and what appears to be other members of his staff. They are also not mentioned by name, but by the characters in the initial play.
And that’s not the only Trump-inspired play hitting New York this summer.
Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore unveiled “The Terms of My Surrender,” a one-man Broadway play focused 100% on the president. Or in his own words, it’s “a humorous play about a country that’s just elected a madman.”
RELATED: Michael Moore is taking his commentary on President Trump to Broadway
Last week, comedian Kathy Griffin faced swift backlash for her controversial display of a bloodied, severed head made in the image of the president.
Griffin faced extreme backlash almost immediately, launching a week-long media frenzy.
CNN made the very public decision to cut ties with Griffin while venues responded by canceling her upcoming appearances. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) even dis-invited Griffin from an event organized to help promote his new book.
