NEW YORK: American filmmaker Michael Moore has donated $10,000 to a New York theater that staged a controversial production of Julius Caesar in which the Roman emperor bears a striking resemblance to US President Donald Trump.
The play, in which Caesar appears as a blond businessman who tweets from his bathroom and is married to a woman with a thick Slavic accent — similar to Melania Trump — was strongly criticized by pro-Republican media, which denounced the assassination scene as a call to kill the president.
The 63-year-old director and vocal Trump opponent tweeted to his five million followers a photograph of the check, made out to The Public Theater, and called on his fans to support the establishment.
“I’m donating my total advance pay from my B’way show to Shakespeare in the Park after conservative media bullied Corp. sponsors 2 pull out,” wrote Moore, who will make his own stage debut on July 28 with a one-man Broadway show on the rise of Donald Trump.
The Julius Caesar controversy first broke out during preview showings, even before the play appeared at the “Shakespeare in the Park” theater festival in New York’s Central Park. The few scheduled shows were played to packed audiences, while one was briefly interrupted by a female protester.
Sponsors Delta Airlines and Bank of America later announced they were withdrawing their support.
Artistic director Oskar Eustis defended the play as a parable for those trying to fight for democracy, while denying that it encouraged violence.
Many others have come out in support of the theater and announced their intention to donate.
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