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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