'Experience is the Teacher of All Things': A Question of Marketing and Politics on Broadway

Throughout the early days of the Trump administration, the arts community has played no small role in engaging fans and motivating audiences to take greater part in the political process. From Hamilton's showdown with the Vice President to the presence of Broadway Strong at the Women's March, the Broadway community has banded together to help bring greater awareness to our audiences.

Now, a few months into this national ordeal, we are seeing the efforts of our community widen to include a range of politically significant artistic expressions. As the theatre is wont to do in times of political upheaval, our messages have leapt off of the streets and onto our stages, continuing the centuries long tradition of the theatre as a reflection of our political state. However, when it comes to considering our own recent forays into political theatre and their reception, some facets of this trend veer toward the troubling, with theatremakers and press using artistic and promotional tactics that have potential to overshadow the important work being presented.

The first, and certainly most visible example of these is The Public Theater's production of Julius Caesar in Central Park. Setting the play in the current day and utilizing our own political characters within its world, there was a predictable outcry from conservative press over depictions of political violence toward the current administration.

The artistic director of The Public Theater and director of the play, Oskar Eustis, fired back at critics insisting that the fallen dictator of the play's title was in no way based on our current president. Yet when it comes to the content of the production, with Caesar's platinum blonde wig and golden bathtub, it would be difficult to miss the allusions to the current Commander-in-Chief.

Despite a long-lived trend of companies producing setting-specific productions of Shakespeare's works, the true power of Shakespeare's plays lies in the prose of the author and the timelessness of his themes. Sure, it can be useful to adapt the Bard to showcase this versatility and timelessness, but when it comes to the Public's production of Julius Caesar, the thematic strength of the play, which is more than intact, was overshadowed by its setting and lost in a press circus surrounding the company's intentions.

Considering the prescient quality of the play and the record numbers of people who attend the company's free Shakespeare program each summer, Shakespeare in the Park was not lacking for any sort of audience. And so, this practice then begs the question, "Why?" For a play as enduring as Julius Caesar and a program as strong as Shakespeare in the Park, what is the true function of setting this piece- despite protestations to the contrary- in the here and now? Would a less on-the-nose approach been enough?

In the case of 1984, another work in which a political warning should ring as the prevailing message, we have been met with yet another roadblock of sensationalist press.

When the show first ran in the United Kingdom, where it played several engagements, including one on the West End, the play was the story. With its strong staging and game ensemble of actors, Winston's story exploded onto the stage, hailed as one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking works of the season. Yet when it comes to the Broadway production, which is still a worthy and scary experience in every aspect -none so chilling as its forewarning of society falling prey to oligarchy- the press response has been unusually focused on a torture sequence that takes place in the play's final act.

The sequence in question (which, in my opinion, is no worse than an episode of Game of Thrones) has been met with a maelstrom of press depicting audience members fainting, fighting, vomiting, and fleeing the theater (a response which begs another question: Are Broadway audiences challenged enough? If we're using the reaction to 1984 as an example, the answer is no.) yet when it comes to Orwell's true intentions, the enduring and timely message of 1984 has been largely shut out of the conversation.

When it comes to these works which can be so vital during political turmoil, we must consider not only the shows we are presenting but the ways in which we draw people to the theatre. These are moments where our audiences, and by the extension the electorate, must not only be moved emotionally, but empowered through critical thinking. The current crop of political works on our most visible stages have fallen prey to a kind of pandering which undermines the intelligence of our audiences.

When considering the responsibility of producing and promoting political works during moments of political upheaval, we must ensure that we are not only bringing audiences into our theaters, but into the political process as well; that we are fostering intellectual and emotional growth in our crowds while we have their attention.

These sensationalist tactics, while they may bring audiences to the theater, have the potential to drown out any constructive conversation these works bring forth, undermining the power of the plays and placing audience focus on the sign instead of what it's pointing to. As a national arts community, it is imperative that we recognize the power on our stages and present and promote these works with the seriousness with which they are intended, ensuring that our efforts not be written off as a cynical capitalization on a moment, but a full-bodied examination of our present and a viable contribution to a better future.