A play scheduled to open Saturday night in Chicago targets Barron Trump, the ten-year-old son of newly sworn in President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
The play, titled, “Barron Trump Up Past Bedtime”, stars comedian Shannon Noll as Barron and is set for the Revival Theater in Hyde Park, the neighborhood of Trump’s predecessor former President Barack Obama. Melania Trump will also be targeted in character on stage. But the main target, of course, is President Trump.
After eight years of presidential children being off limits (to the point news articles about them disappeared after White House warnings), they are “fair game” now that a Republican is president. A headline about the play at the Chicago Reader makes that very point about young Barron Trump being “fair game”: Barron Trump is fair game in Barron Trump: Up Past Bedtime
The Revival Theater’s description of the play:
“Join Donald Trump’s youngest heir Barron Trump (as played by Shannon Noll) for a “Pee Wee’s Playhouse-style” show that features celebrity guests (Melania Trump, Ben Carson, and Vladimir Putin) patriotic games (Pin the Email on the Clinton), and fancy fun!”
Barron Trump stands by his father, President-elect Donald Trump at his victory speech in New York City, November 9, 2016, screen image via Legal Insurrection.
The promo photo for the play appears to use an edited photo of Barron Trump from his father’s victory speech in the early hours of November 9, 2016.
A photo of Shannon Noll in character:
Image by Cassie Ahiers, Chicago Reader.
The Chicago Reader interviewed Noll about the play.
…Noll says her approach is decidedly lighthearted: an exploration of the current political moment through the eyes of a child enmeshed in it.
“When I set out to do this show, I did it to use [Barron] as a vehicle to comment on this administration,” Noll says. She was initially inspired to take on the title role due to her resemblance to the youngest Trump, who stepped into the spotlight when he appeared to struggle to stay awake during his father’s presidential victory speech, which occurred at around 3 AM.
Up Past Bedtime begins as Melania Trump tucks Barron in for the night. He then secretly stays awake to explore a fantastical world, a la Pee-wee’s Playhouse, populated by the likes of Vladimir Putin and Ben Carson. Rounding out the cast are Erin Diamond, Sonal Aggarwal, Arish Singh, Aadam Keeley, Asia Martin, Max Thomas, Gary Pascal, Meghana Indurti, and Wanjiku Kairu…
“The feeling that I want people to leave with is one of hope and positivity,” Noll says. “We’re bringing some light to the time that we’re in.”
Noll told the Chicago Tribune that Barron Trump “is absolutely not the butt of a joke.”
“It’s a variety show in the style of ‘Pee-wee’s Playhouse’ and it’s basically Barron Trump getting read a bedtime story, and then deciding to stay up past his bedtime and play with his imaginary friends,” Noll said Friday.
Those include: Ben Carson, a Trump voter from Indiana, a “woke young kid and her Auntie, who has just come in from India,” Betsy Ross and Vladimir Putin as “sort of a gossiping teenager.”
…”I noticed that I looked like Barron Trump and I thought that would be an interesting approach,” she said. She has brought on collaborators who will perform solo material (the aforementioned imaginary friends) “and I’m facilitating that as Barron Trump” as master of ceremonies.
“Barron Trump is absolutely not the butt of a joke,” she said.
Asked if she had any second thoughts about going ahead with the show, Noll said, “No, I sort of doubled-down.
“I was originally going to create a fake Trump child, but I look so much like Barron. And going into this, I specifically created this character so that he bears no resemblance in personality to what we’ve seen of Barron Trump. I’m just playing him as a generic kid.”
Liberals have targeted Barron Trump for abuse all week, with at least one tormentor, Saturday Night Live writer Katie Rich, being suspended from SNL for her abusive tweet about young Barron.
The opening of the play targeting Barron Trump comes just days after the White House issued a statement in response to attacks on Barron calling for the tradition of presidents’ children being allowed to “grow up outside of the political spotlight” be respected.
“It is a longstanding tradition that the children of Presidents are afforded the opportunity to grow up outside of the political spotlight. The White House fully expects this tradition to continue. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.”
TGP UPDATE ARTICLE: Comedian Behind Barron Trump Play Is a Sick Psycho Trump Hater (Language warning.)
