The parody musical *** Trump *** in Three Acts and its subsequent companion 2020 Hindsight, Trump: A Lyrical Review provide for the stage, as entertainment, what the chronicles of Woodward et al. ( Fear,
Rage, and Peril ) offer to political theater as fact. Putting democracy to the test is no joke, but many feel that is what we are witnessing. Whether this can be blamed on Donald J. Trump will be for history to decide. Indubitable, however, is the fact that of all the domestic elected individuals who have(had) made themselves ripe for political caricature, Donald J. Trump certainly is one of the more fertile. His voluminous official pronouncements via tweets and his frequent public impostures have yielded a bumper crop of stand-ups and send-ups. *** !TRUMP! *** is in the form of a three-act political satire, in part a take-off on the speeches given and music played at political events to animate supporters. While obviously fictional in its details of public/private speech, its thematic arc is based upon real political events and notable public figures. Reports in the media have provided the quotes that are seeded within the text. The Trump story is still developing, however. Many newsworthy events are yet to come, along with much debate as to whether he’s helped or harmed, whether his presidency is one to be celebrated or overcome. As of this writing, it is December 2019 and President Donald J. Trump has been impeached. The 2020 electoral circus has barely begun. Whether or not he is acquitted, whether or not he wins reelection, whether or not he even runs - none of these is particularly important for this political satire. Be he historically rejoiced or reviled, be he lauded or defamed in future analyses, he has changed American politics. Indeed, he may have changed America.This play’s actual closing curtain is in the future, as may be the American experiment in democracy. There will be more ground to cover as future events - some foreseeable, many not - worthy of satire unfold. The election of November 2020, not his impeachment in 2019, would seem to be the fitting climactic. However, even that is only partially anticipatory. As Shakespeare wrote: The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.