Shakespeare Dallas was getting ready for opening night of the Shakespeare comedy, 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' this week. So when emails started arriving Tuesday – some of them threatening in nature – there was surprise.
"It was shocking," said Shakespeare Dallas Executive and Artistic Director, Raphael Parry. "I think it was a case of mistaken identity."
Earlier this week, Shakespeare in the Park in New York stirred up controversy with its contemporary take on Julius Caesar. It featured a President Trump look-a-like who was stabbed to death.
Shakespeare Dallas is not affiliated in any way, and is not even putting on Julius Caesar this summer, but that didn't stop the emails from flooding the company's inbox.
"I hope you're not part of the same organization in New York City," read one email to Shakespeare Dallas. "If so, I hope you lose all your funding and go out of business."
Another email was more threatening.
"We should send all you freaks to ISIS," it read. "They would eliminate your stench on this earth with real knives."
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A member of Shakespeare Dallas' board forwarded the emails to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. NBC 5 reached out to the office in Dallas, but had not heard back Thursday evening as to whether agents are looking into the threats.
"It's reflective to me of what's wrong with our culture right now," Parry said. "That we just get so upset with each other."
