Reviewed by James Karas
Timon of Athens is generally considered low-grade Shakespeare
and is produced infrequently. The deduction is that he wrote it in
collaboration with Thomas Middleton. The chance to see a production by the
National Theatre of Great Britain was not to be missed even if it was on a
movie screen in Toronto and (sort of) live from London. It is in fact
pre-recorded.
The production is directed by Nicholas Hytner
and has some of the most experienced Shakespearean actors of England led by
Simon Russell Beale in the title role. Low-grade Shakespeare becomes first-rate
theatre in the hands of the National Theatre with some pluses and some minuses
for those watching it on the movie screen.
Timon of Athens is a parable about a rich man who
gives all his wealth to his friends. When he becomes bankrupt, they turn their
backs on him and he becomes a misanthrope. It is an imperfect morality story as
a well-constructed play and quite creaky in its development of characters and
themes.
Hytner sets the play in London’s financial
district of today where the wealthy Timon is first seen being feted as a
benefactor of the Timon Gallery. His generosity knows no bounds as he lavishes
money and expensive gifts on everyone who approaches him. The sycophants who
are milking him are aspiring artists at best and financiers in well-cut suits.
The jolly atmosphere of giving is turned upside
down when Timon goes broke and asks his “friends” for assistance. He is turned
down cruelly and ends up as a homeless street person pushing a shopping cart.
Subject to my complaint about the lighting,
this is a masterly production by Hytner that makes the play approachable,
comprehensible and simply marvellous theatre. Hytner has changed some of the
characters from men to women to reflect the modern setting. He finds gold in
many places when none seems apparent. The Flaminia-Lucullus scene is a good
example. Timon’s servant Flaminius is changed to Flaminia (and played with
perfect diction by Olivia Llewellyn). When she approaches Timon’s friend
Lucullus of Lucullus Capital (Paul Bental), he makes sexual advances to the
attractive Flaminia. There is nothing to indicate this in the text. Hytner is
faithful to the original and sees the opportunity to heighten Lucullus’
despicable conduct. A very smart directorial stroke.
Simon Russell Beale gives a stellar performance
as Timon. There is a fine line between generosity and denseness and the generous
Timon treads on that line before his downfall. When he goes bankrupt, he spews
out a torrent of invectives against humanity but he has not learned anything.
Beale is brilliant both as the wonderful philanthropist and as the hideous
misanthrope.
Hilton McRae plays Apemantus, the cynical
philosopher who sees through the vultures who suck up Timon’s wealth. McRae
looks like a rumpled academic: smart, decent distrustful and grumpy. Superb
work by McRae.
Timon’s steward Flavia provides an example of
loyalty and decency in the moral cesspool but she is spat upon by her employer.
Parables have no room for people like her, I suppose. In any event Deborah
Findlay is a rock-sold steward and does an exceptional job in the role.
The leeches and the servants are almost
interchangeable within their group but Tom Robertson does stand out as
Ventidius, the drunk, wealthy homosexual who refuses to help Timon even though
he had paid for him (Ventidius) to be released from prison.
The play is performed on the large Olivier
stage of the National Theatre. We are restricted for most of the production to
watching actors perform within the confines of a spotlight. The background is
almost always dark and at times all one sees is an actor’s lit face and
blackness all around. We get to see a bit more in some of the scenes and in the
second half when Timon lives in a pile of garbage and finds gold in the sewer.
The set is sparse. We see a large dining table,
a huge window with office towers in the background and a few pieces of furniture.
All of it is effective but watching much of the performance in the boundaries
of a spotlight I found unsatisfactory.
The close-ups were helpful but the only time we
saw the shape of the set and the stage was during intermission.
In the end Hytner does deliver a brilliant
recreation of so-so Shakespeare and one could only ask for one more thing: to
have been able to see the real thing in London.
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