So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast Ep. 35 Et tu, hecklers? Howard Sherman on defending the arts
In Shakespeare’s 1599 play “Julius Caesar,” the title character is warned by a soothsayer to “beware the Ides of March.” After protesters attempted to shut down a modernized production of the play in New York’s Central Park last month, theater companies may now be warning each other to “beware the ire of hecklers.”
On today’s episode of So to Speak, we speak with Arts Integrity Initiative Director Howard Sherman about the controversy surrounding The Public Theater’s production of “Julius Caesar,” which captured headlines for portraying Caesar as a costumed Donald Trump (spoiler alert: Caesar gets assassinated). Howard was in the audience on June 16 when a protester stormed the stage. He may have also been the first to report the heckling to the outside world.
Was the protest protected speech? What does the controversy tell us about creating art on contemporary political themes? Also, looking beyond the “Julius Caesar” controversy, where else do we see art challenged — or censored — and why? These questions and more are addressed in this wide-ranging interview.
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