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Photo by Heidi Bohnenkamp, 2012

While Delta Air Lines and Bank of America have dropped their sponsorships of New Yorks Public Theater over a President Trump-inspired staging of Shakespeares Julius Caesar, corporate sponsors at the Guthrie Theater had no public reaction to a 2012 staging that featured a black actor in the role of Caesar.

That production, part of a national tour done in collaboration with the Acting Company of New York, starred Bjorn DuPaty, a tall basketball aficionado who resembles then-President Barack Obama (pictured above).

Caesar is stabbed to death in the middle of the play.

The New York production, staged by Twin Cities-born director Oskar Eustis, was questioned in a tweet by the president's son, Donald J. Trump, Jr.

"I wonder how much of this art is funded by taxpayers? he asked. Serious question, when does art become political speech & does that change things?

The reaction from corporate sponsors was swift.

No matter what your political stance may be, the graphic staging of Julius Caesar at this summers free Shakespeare in the Park does not reflect Delta Air Lines values, Delta said Sunday in a statement.

Delta and, before it, Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines, which merged with Delta in 2009, is a longstanding supporter of the Guthrie. It is the theater's official airline, and the title sponsor of the Guthries summer musical, Sunday in the Park with George.

I havent seen the Publics production of the play, but I know the conversation is not about whether its a good production or not, or whether Caesar is a hero or villain, said Guthrie artistic director Joseph Haj. I feel for Oskar [Eustis] and the Public, because its complicated. Corporate sponsors have been vitally important to the health of the American theater theyve been extraordinary partners over many decades. But theres also been a firewall there. Ive never had a conversation with a sponsor that has been around the art-making itself.

Haj worries that the retreat of the sponsors in the face of a tweet by the presidents namesake son will have a chilling effect on the field.

The idea of supporting a theater cant be limited to an idea that I only support he work I like most, said Haj. It has been based on that organizations values, commitment, vision and mission as we serve our community.

Advertisers sometimes abandon hot-potato TV programs, as evidenced recently with Fox shows hosted by Sean Hannity and Bill OReilly. But its unusual for a corporate sponsor, let alone two, to bail on a performing arts institution over a show.

Haj recently directed Shakespeares King Lear in modern dress. That tragedy, about a mad ruler surrounded by fawning sycophants, did not make any overt nods to contemporary American politics although audiences reacted audiblyat linesthat spoke to the moment.

But Full Circle Theaters recent Twin Cities production of Suzan-Lori Parks 365 Days/365 Plays did feature an insecure character in a blond wig who spoke like Trump and wanted to be famous just to be famous. His mother yells at him to get off the stage, drawing approving laughter from the audience.

The job of art is to speak truth to power and stand up to authoritarianism, said director and theater scholar Stephanie Lein Walseth, who staged the Parks playlet, written 15 years ago. In this moment, things are happening on so many fronts, its overwhelming.Doing something through art to preserve our democracy thats what Im called to do.

Haj said that hes not sure if there will be a residual effect for this episode. But he hopes that artists will continue to be brave and courageous.

Arts funding is always, in one way or another, under assault," he said. Its the easiest political football in the world. When Donald Trump called for the defunding of the NEA and the NEH, thats not a budget decision. The funding is pennies per every American every year. But we dont get to line-item veto things we dont like or dont use. I dont get to say, 'I dont want to fund schools or roads we dont use.' We, as a nation, value art and culture. We value the protected space, the freedom of thought and expression.

Read more:
Obama-based Julius Caesar - startribune.com