Senators stab Trump to death during Shakespeare in the Park performance

On May 23, Shakespeare in the Park kicked off with a version of Julius Caesar that raised eyebrows and left a few people upset, as it replaced Caesar with a character that bore a striking resemblance to President Donald Trump.

The decision to have a reddish-blonde, long-tie-wearing character as Caesar was made deliberately, as a description for the play on The Public Theater’s website says, “Shakespeare’s political masterpiece has never felt more contemporary.”

In the play, a group of conspirators, including Cassius and Brutus, who Caesar thought were his friends, bring an end to the Roman dictator by stabbing him on the Senate floor. That same ending was played out on the stage with the Trump stand-in, in all its bloody detail.

Laura Sheaffer, who attended the play on Saturday, said in an interview with Joe Piscopo on AM 970 THE ANSWER that the parallels between the Caesar on-stage and Trump were “blatantly obvious” and that the actress playing Caesar’s wife Calpurnia even resembled Melania Trump, complete with a “Slavic accent.”

Sheaffer said that she was shocked by the murder scene that played out on the Senate floor with the American flag overhead. “They had the full murder scene onstage, and blood was spewing everywhere out of his body,” she said.

— D.L. Hughley on Kathy Griffin: If you got mad at her and didn’t say sh*t about Ted Nugent, you’re a hypocrite — 

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

She went on to say that the message of the play was worrisome, especially because the play ends with a celebration of Brutus’ bravery for the stabbing and betrayal of Caesar.

“The message it sent was that if you don’t support the president, it’s ok to assassinate him,” Sheaffer said. “I don’t love President Trump, but he’s the president. You can’t assassinate him on a stage.”

Sheaffer also drew parallels to Kathy Griffin, who recently came under fire for posing for a picture using what appeared to be the bloody and decapitated head of Trump as a prop.

“Kathy Griffin got so much coverage for what she did, everyone was horrified, so why is no one horrified by this, which is essentially the murder of the President of the United States in front of 2,000 people?” Sheaffer asked.

“The performance was well done, and the actors did a good job. It was fascinating to see the parallels between the Trump administration and Caesar’s rule, but murdering the president on stage was just too far.”

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