Something Sidious comes to Athens

by Darth Danno
on 2012-05-02, 09:00:40

At my request, a friend of mine was able to get tickets to the first preview night of “Timon of Athens” starring Ian McDiarmid down at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier last Tuesday night. The seats surround the stage on three sides, plus there are a couple of balconies. Our seats were on the main floor, third row on the stage left side (for those not in the know, if you’re standing on the stage looking out at the audience, stage left is to the performer’s left. Downstage is toward the audience and Upstage is to the back, away from the audience.) Not bad for $28.00 seats!

“Timon of Athens” is a story about a very wealthy man who never hesitates to throw lavish parties and by expensive gifts for all his friends. Money truly is no object for him until the people to whom he owes money come calling for him to repay his debts. He then finds out from his servant, Flavius that he is completely broke. Undaunted, he sends his servant out to see about borrowing money from his “friends” with not so positive results. One said he wouldn’t loan him any money without some sort of collateral, a second would be happy to help, but currently has no money on him to loan, but had he arrived two hours earlier.... A third was insulted that Timon didn’t come to him first, rather than last and hence, would loan him no money. Upon hearing this news, Timon decides to throw one last party for his friends, serving them hot water and stones, and letting them all know they are dead to him, now and forever. That ended the first act.

The second act took place on a beach at the seaside, finding Timon trying to scrape out a meager existence there, eating roots and whatever else he’s able to dig up. But rather than finding sustenance, he actually discovers a large deposit of gold! Word of Timon’s new-found wealth spreads quickly, and soon many of his old acquaintances make a visit to the seashore to try and make amends. Needless to say things do not end well.

Ian McDiarmid is absolutely captivating in the role, proving himself quite agile for being 67 years young, being able to jump off tables and roll around on the floor. The rest of the cast showed they were more than adequate to perform alongside of him. The whole show is updated into present times, where everyone wears suits and tuxedos and amasses their wealth through the stock market.

For me, this show was similar to Carrie Fisher’s in that the first act was better than the second. I am not a stranger to Shakespeare having performed in Community Theater productions of: “Taming of the Shrew”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “As You Like It”, “The Tempest”, “Comedy of Errors”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, and “Merry Wives of Windsor”. But it usually takes me some time before I am able to sort through the dialogue and comprehend what it is I’m actually talking about. I understand that in the second act, Timon has gone somewhat mad, living out on the beach for who knows how long. (It was never made clear how much time had passed between acts I and II) I got the general idea what he was ranting about, but couldn’t get the actual specifics, and so I got rather lost at times. Also, the second act featured a lot less of the performers, and was a lot more of Timon ranting to himself. He was exceptional, of course, but when you can’t completely follow what he’s saying…

I also didn’t care for how the show ended. ***SPOILER ALERT*** If you are planning on seeing the show and don’t want to know how it ends, skip the rest of this paragraph. Timon ends up giving some of the gold to soldiers who wish to wage war against Athens; the rest goes to Flavius, whom he declares “the only honest man”. He then takes off all his clothes, and I do mean ALL his clothes (at least it was done with his back, or backside to the audience) and walks upstage, symbolizing walking into the sea and drowning himself. What, no barrage of Force lightning, no Order 66, no realigning Athens into the first Athenian Empire??? So what does Flavius do with his newfound wealth? Does he use it to plot revenge against the ex-friends of his now deceased master? No. Does he use it to make the world a better place? Uh uh. Does he start practicing the ways of the Sith? Hardly. He uses it to buy himself a large group of friends, just like Timon did, and the cycle begins again. I’m glad I got to see Mr. McDiarmid in person, but as for the show, it’s not something I’d want to see time and timon again.

113 days to go!