When New York’s “Shakespeare in the Park” decided to perform the play Julius Caesar this summer, they created a real tempest. (See what I did there?) Casting a lead actor who looked and dressed like Donald Trump was just too much for the fragile ego of the President, especially because in the play Caesar is done in by his closest advisor and friend, Brutus (who looked a lot like Steve Bannon.)
It got so bad that conservatives around the country started a backlash of protests against any group performing any of the works of Shakespeare.
Twitter, naturally, is having a field day with the whole mess.
One Twitter user, a man named John Aravosis, posted the question, “What if all of Shakespeare was really written about Donald Trump? What would the titles be?”
What if all of Shakespeare was really written about Donald Trump? What would the titles be?
King Lear –> King Leer.#ShakespeareInTheTrump— John Aravosis (@aravosis) June 17, 2017
Then he started the thread off with a change from King Lear to King Leer.
It only got better after that.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” became “A Midsummer Night’s Tweet” and then “A Midsummer Nightmare.”
Then there was “Much Ado About Nothing”, which was trolled as “Much Ado About Covfefe” and “Much Ado About Nothing. Believe Me.”
The Trumpest #ShakespeareintheTrump
— C (@wandering_c) June 17, 2017
People had a lot of fun with “The Tempest,” too. Everything from “The Trumpest” to “The Tweetstorm.”
There was “The Merchant of Moscow” and the “Merchant of Menace”, as well as “The Merchant of Covfefe.”
But those clever Twitter folks went beyond titles. They put some of Shakespeare’s famous quotes into a form that reflect the age of Trump. Take these, for instance.
It is a tale
Told by an idiot
Full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing
—Trumpbeth #ShakespeareInTheTrump— ♨️Saucy Stacey♨️ (@DrCrane72) June 17, 2017
"Alas, poor Yuri, I knew him well. I hardly knew Yuri at all. Yuri? Who's Yuri? I never dealt with any Yuri!"#ShakespeareInTheTrump
— MLH (@Heffalumpy) June 17, 2017
I only wish I could be half this clever! If you’re on Twitter, look up this thread. You love all the new names for “Julius Caesar.”
Featured image by Steve Czajka via Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)
