Timon of Athens

Sport for Jove’s version of one of Shakespeare’s least known plays, perhaps his darkest, was a surprise hit last year when staged outdoors in Sydney’s Leura Everglades.  Happily it’s now revived, briefly, in the cavernous York Theatre. 

Timon of Athens is dubbed a “problem play” of Shakespeare’s, lacking his consistent depth and impact of language, with sketchily drawn characters and a pessimism about humanity that makes King Lear look sunny. Some argue that Shakespeare wrote himself into such a depression, even a nervous breakdown, that he never finished it.

Thomas Middleton, a poet known for his social satires, is commonly credited as Shakespeare’s co-writer, and many adaptors have since added their mark.  Sport for Jove’s AD Damien Ryan, who excels in the role of Timon, and director Margaret Thanos is the most recent adaptation.

Despite the York’s appalling acoustics and an ensemble which looks unprepared for its thrust stage, this inventive production creates a compelling attack on all who worship gold before all else.

Timon is a wealthy philanthropist who at huge parties throws his wealth to a colourful parade of seeming friends and sycophants. Ryan plays him fondly as a shy, even nerdy innocent keen to celebrate friendship, but when all his wealth (inexplicably) disappears, his “friends” can’t help him.

This repetitive grab-bag of anonymous whores, coke-sniffers, artists, merchants, senators and then creditors make for a riotous if confused first act, especially from under-experienced actors lacking good vocal training. I’ve not seen that before with Sport for Jove!

The play then deepens when Ryan’s Timon decries the greed of Athenians and in the wilderness, joyfully living as a beast, shouts against humanity the best curses ever written by Shakespeare. Ryan is magnificent in his moral fury and total naked nihilism.

Among Timon’s real friends is his loyal steward, Flavia (a moving and articulate Deborah Galanos), the skeptical Philosopher, Apemantus  (a welcome multi-layered character from Mike Booth) and the under-written army leader, Alcibiades (Jake Speer). 

Shakespeare (and Middleton), deliberately it seems, gives little explanation behind this blunt moral tale, nor any distracting back story or filial connections to his characters.

Rose Montgomery’s set of Greek ruins, tarpaulins and hovels captures Athen’s economic collapse after Timon’s bankruptcy - and the more recent Greek financial crisis. Aloma Barnes Siraswar’s bold costumes defy any unified vision, plucking from different periods, while AJ Evans expansive compositions help knit together the chaos.

Martin Portus

Photographer: Robert Catto