There's a reason why rarely-performed works are rarely performed. It's usually because they are, to put it bluntly, clunkers. Certainly Timon of Athens is one of the clunkier plays in the Shakespearean canon. It ends very unpleasantly and bitterly, leaves ample numbers of loose ends in its wake, and contains an uncomfortable conjunction of different writing styles. These difficulties are usually interpreted as proof of a dual authorship, with Thomas Middleton the most likely candidate.
Then why perform it at all? Some parts are undoubtedly Shakespearean. The rest, although different in style, is by no means inconsiderable. And in a world full of rapacious gold-diggers, the scenario of a philanthropist giving his considerable wealth all away to demanding and ungrateful "friends" most certainly strikes a chord with me. Rare it will no doubt remain, but it's still worth performing and worth seeing. And therefore I'm all the more grateful to Stratford for giving it one of its infrequent outings this season.
Rarer still was the privilege, which I discovered by looking around after I was seated, of being in attendance as a live stage production was filmed for later showing in Cineplex theatres, on CBC, and (I hope) as a DVD release. I can honestly say that once the lights went down and the play began, I forgot all about the cameras as there were no distractions from moving camera rigs -- just five operators on five fixed stations.
Director Stephen Ouimette has presented a gripping production. Timon is a play that has to crackle with extremes of emotion if it isn't going to fall flat. This performance certainly did. Only in a few moments of soliloquy was I conscious of an actor twisting and turning about to face all four sides of the audience in turn, an easy trap to fall into. Although Ouimette laudably set out to change genders of some of the characters in an almost all-male script, he didn't venture into major character territory in doing so -- a pity, as this play offers more flexibility than many scripts for that kind of recasting.
Dana Osborne's modern designs bring Timon squarely into our own times, but subtly and with only the most minimal touches of set pieces and costumes. Particularly intriguing were the clear see-through chairs in the dinner party sequences, a little subconscious hint that Timon's wealth and benevolence were to prove as ephemeral as his friends' loyalty.
Characters in Timon of Athens tend to revolve on and off stage in groups -- with no one individual in any particular group standing out more than the others. Thus, it is truly a "company play" and the depth of the Stratford company is amply illustrated by the overall strength of performances in these groups. Effete artists, over-grateful friends, politically savvy senators, sensuous dancers, demanding servants of creditors -- all leaped to life in turn, never deteriorating into mere talking heads. The depth of the production in this respect was notable.
Of all the characters in the entire play, the one who most shows genuine care and concern for others is Timon's Steward, here played by Michael Spencer-Davis. Without being in the least imposing or dominating in any physical way, this Steward yet drew all attention to himself by the merits of his warm, true, and real personality. A finely shaded portrayal of an extraordinary "ordinary man."
The play as a whole stands or falls by three particular characters: Alcibiades (the military officer), Apemantus (the cynical philosopher), and Timon himself.
Tim Campbell gave us an Alcibiades of high-strength steel, a man of power and determination raised to the nth degree when crossed. His most powerful moment came in the final scene when he led his soldiers in an assault on his home state of Athens. Standing alone in an aisle, stock still, without any reaction at all, he watched as war and tumult roiled all across the stage in front of and below him. A frightening and gripping image.
Ben Carlson's Apemantus was a fine portrait of sardonic cynicism writ large. In the first act, he aptly portrayed the polar opposite of Timon's open-handed generosity and kindness. In the second act I hoped for a little more intensity in his last confrontation with Timon. Carlson's great strength is his ability to be heard in all parts of the audience, no matter which way he happens to be facing.
Joseph Ziegler's Timon was a more nuanced portrayal than I have seen before. If his open-handed philanthropist in the early scenes was a little too goody-two-shoes to be believable, all was redeemed and more than redeemed as the play unfolded.
The scene in which the Steward brings him to realize that he has given away his entire fortune was a virtuoso demonstration of awareness dawning by degrees, line by line and moment by moment. Even better was the turn-on-a-dime explosion of rage in his final dinner party.
Ziegler's finest moments came in the second act. It's an almost insurmountable challenge for any actor to play an hour-long litany of hate and disgust without becoming boring. Ziegler more than met the challenge. With flexible nuances of voice and manner, with unexpected grace notes of a sigh here and a chuckle there, Ziegler kept us engrossed and involved in the continuing downfall of the man. It's customary to refer to Timon as a man whose life comes crashing to a halt, but Ziegler persuaded me, for one, that Timon still had important discoveries to make and conclusions to reach in the final days of his time on earth.
Thus, when the Steward bluntly announced, in the final scene, "Timon is dead," it came not so much as a tragic end but as a fulfilment and culmination of a life. And that change of tone had everything to do with Ziegler's uniquely multi-faceted performance in the title role of the play.
PS If you do go to see the show at the Cineplex, I'm in the top row of seats -- and I am not waving a sign that says, "Hi, Mom!"
Rarer still was the privilege, which I discovered by looking around after I was seated, of being in attendance as a live stage production was filmed for later showing in Cineplex theatres, on CBC, and (I hope) as a DVD release. I can honestly say that once the lights went down and the play began, I forgot all about the cameras as there were no distractions from moving camera rigs -- just five operators on five fixed stations.
Director Stephen Ouimette has presented a gripping production. Timon is a play that has to crackle with extremes of emotion if it isn't going to fall flat. This performance certainly did. Only in a few moments of soliloquy was I conscious of an actor twisting and turning about to face all four sides of the audience in turn, an easy trap to fall into. Although Ouimette laudably set out to change genders of some of the characters in an almost all-male script, he didn't venture into major character territory in doing so -- a pity, as this play offers more flexibility than many scripts for that kind of recasting.
Dana Osborne's modern designs bring Timon squarely into our own times, but subtly and with only the most minimal touches of set pieces and costumes. Particularly intriguing were the clear see-through chairs in the dinner party sequences, a little subconscious hint that Timon's wealth and benevolence were to prove as ephemeral as his friends' loyalty.
Characters in Timon of Athens tend to revolve on and off stage in groups -- with no one individual in any particular group standing out more than the others. Thus, it is truly a "company play" and the depth of the Stratford company is amply illustrated by the overall strength of performances in these groups. Effete artists, over-grateful friends, politically savvy senators, sensuous dancers, demanding servants of creditors -- all leaped to life in turn, never deteriorating into mere talking heads. The depth of the production in this respect was notable.
Of all the characters in the entire play, the one who most shows genuine care and concern for others is Timon's Steward, here played by Michael Spencer-Davis. Without being in the least imposing or dominating in any physical way, this Steward yet drew all attention to himself by the merits of his warm, true, and real personality. A finely shaded portrayal of an extraordinary "ordinary man."
The play as a whole stands or falls by three particular characters: Alcibiades (the military officer), Apemantus (the cynical philosopher), and Timon himself.
Tim Campbell gave us an Alcibiades of high-strength steel, a man of power and determination raised to the nth degree when crossed. His most powerful moment came in the final scene when he led his soldiers in an assault on his home state of Athens. Standing alone in an aisle, stock still, without any reaction at all, he watched as war and tumult roiled all across the stage in front of and below him. A frightening and gripping image.
Ben Carlson's Apemantus was a fine portrait of sardonic cynicism writ large. In the first act, he aptly portrayed the polar opposite of Timon's open-handed generosity and kindness. In the second act I hoped for a little more intensity in his last confrontation with Timon. Carlson's great strength is his ability to be heard in all parts of the audience, no matter which way he happens to be facing.
Joseph Ziegler's Timon was a more nuanced portrayal than I have seen before. If his open-handed philanthropist in the early scenes was a little too goody-two-shoes to be believable, all was redeemed and more than redeemed as the play unfolded.
The scene in which the Steward brings him to realize that he has given away his entire fortune was a virtuoso demonstration of awareness dawning by degrees, line by line and moment by moment. Even better was the turn-on-a-dime explosion of rage in his final dinner party.
Ziegler's finest moments came in the second act. It's an almost insurmountable challenge for any actor to play an hour-long litany of hate and disgust without becoming boring. Ziegler more than met the challenge. With flexible nuances of voice and manner, with unexpected grace notes of a sigh here and a chuckle there, Ziegler kept us engrossed and involved in the continuing downfall of the man. It's customary to refer to Timon as a man whose life comes crashing to a halt, but Ziegler persuaded me, for one, that Timon still had important discoveries to make and conclusions to reach in the final days of his time on earth.
Thus, when the Steward bluntly announced, in the final scene, "Timon is dead," it came not so much as a tragic end but as a fulfilment and culmination of a life. And that change of tone had everything to do with Ziegler's uniquely multi-faceted performance in the title role of the play.
PS If you do go to see the show at the Cineplex, I'm in the top row of seats -- and I am not waving a sign that says, "Hi, Mom!"
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