美国国家公共电台 NPR Sponsors Pull Support For 'Julius Caesar' That Seems To Depict Trump

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Here's how Shakespeare can still be controversial in 2017 - when one of the country's most influential¹ theaters presents Julius Caesar in a business suit, a red tie and a blond comb-over. So why is that a problem for New York's Public Theater? Well, if you can't quite remember the play - spoiler alert - Caesar is stabbed to death. Delta² and Bank of America have pulled sponsorship.

Jeff Lunden is with us at our New York bureau. Hey there, Jeff.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE³: Hey, Audie.

CORNISH: So just to set the scene, The Public Theater puts on these free Shakespeare plays in Central Park every summer. This is the Shakespeare in the Park. You've seen this play. How explicit⁴ is the connection to the president?

LUNDEN: It is very explicit. The moment Julius Caesar walks on stage, as you've mentioned, you see this blond comb-over, this long, red tie. And his wife, Calpurnia, is elegantly dressed. And the moment she speaks, there's a Slavic accent. And the audience actually laughs initially⁵. They staged it to make it very clear that this Caesar is supposed to be President Trump⁶.

CORNISH: As I've mentioned, Delta and Bank of America have pulled out. But there's also been criticism from Trump's family - right? - and from the conservative media. What's going on?

LUNDEN: Well, as readers of the play know, Caesar is stabbed to death on stage. And this particular interpretation⁷ is bloody⁸ and violent. And that got picked up by Breitbart about a week ago. And then yesterday morning on "Fox And Friends," it was discussed. And it was followed with a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. And he wrote, I wonder how much of this, quote, "art" is funded by taxpayers⁹.

Breitbart actually got the plot of the play wrong. They wrote that Julius Caesar dies at the end. He actually dies in the middle of the play. And that's what starts a civil war. Very shortly after that, funding was pulled from Delta Airlines and Bank of America.

CORNISH: And Jeff, you received a statement today from The Public Theater saying it stands by this production. It goes on to say, our production of "Julius Caesar" in no way advocates violence towards anyone. And this is something you already heard from the theater before this latest criticism, right?

LUNDEN: That's right. Oskar Eustis, who's the artistic¹⁰ director of The Public and also the director of this production, addressed this very issue before funding was pulled. He was on WNYC.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

OSKAR EUSTIS: If you see the show, there is nothing funny about the assassination¹¹. There is nothing positive about the assassination. Brutus is hoping that this assassination will be seen as a liberation. And the moment the knives come out, it's a butchery. And there is no gloating over Caesar's death. There's nothing funny about Caesar being assassinated¹². It is nothing but a horrible, tragic¹³ event that leads to terrible results. So I don't have a moment of thinking I'm promoting assassination as a technique or making light of the murder of a leader of a country, not at all.

CORNISH: This is not the first time that Shakespeare has gotten the modern political treatment, right, Jeff?

LUNDEN: That's right. You very often see Shakespeare reflected in whatever the contemporary moment is. So just in recent history, the Actors Company did a very well-reviewed production of "Julius Caesar" where the title character was clearly meant to be Barack Obama. And even farther back in the 1930s, Orson Welles did a famous production where Julius Caesar was Mussolini.

CORNISH: How big a deal is this for The Public Theater? Will this funding be a problem for them?

LUNDEN: The short answer is probably yes. Delta is listed in the program as donating between a hundred thousand and $500,000 to the company. Bank of America donates even more. Although, they've only pulled support for this particular production. But there are many other funders of The Public - The New York Times, Bloomberg, other foundations. And of course, The Public is where "Hamilton" started. And they get an income stream from the three productions of that show that are touring across the country. But ultimately this is going to affect what Free Shakespeare in the Park is about. It costs a lot of money to put on these plays, and it's free for everyone.

CORNISH: Jeff Lunden reporting to us from New York. Jeff, thanks so much.

LUNDEN: Thank you, Audie.

(SOUNDBITE OF JAKE ONE AND MF DOOM'S "TRAP DOOR")

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

8 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

11 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

12 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

13 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。