Generosity. Noun. Readiness to give more of something, especially money, than is necessary or expected. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, that is. Timon is lauded as being the most generous man that anyone knows, but how far does his generosity get him? And if that generosity merely buys false friendships, is that generosity at all? William Shakespeare & Friends Collective, with the support of Dandelion Theatre, bring these questions and more to the fore in their production of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, directed by Dandelion Theatre’s artistic director Max Ackerman.

Timon of Athens is certainly one of Shakespeare’s lesser-produced plays, yet when I see it I find that I’m always wondering why; as long as there are humans, Timon of Athens will be relevant. Timon is a great lord who can best be described as frivolous. He spends his money freely and without care or knowledge of his coffers. As such, he has built a loyal following of hangers-on who are constantly requesting his patronage for some favour or other. However, despite repeated warning from his steward Flavius, the coffers run dry, and suddenly Timon finds himself wildly in debt. And isn’t it funny, that none of those “friends” he’s been wining and dining for all those years have any money to give him to help him out. Timon meets a tragic end, one of misanthropy and defeat; a warning to all, even now.

This production added a prologue and epilogue featuring four actors who played multiple parts throughout the piece. The prologue was actually helpful, as it provided some context for a later discovery in the play as well as acting as a microcosmic exploration of the play itself. While the language is strong, and not Shakespearean, it was certainly an interesting way to begin the play. The epilogue, however, felt like violence for the sake of it, and didn’t particularly add anything to the play. It was difficult to tell who the actors were portraying at that point, and I didn’t feel like there was a particular message to it that hadn’t already been explored throughout the production.

Timon of Athens is being performed in the BMO Incubator space at The Theatre Centre, and this production certainly capitalizes on the intimacy of the space. Using the length of the space to their advantage, the actors use the many entrance and exit points while navigating through the audience. If you’d like a fully-immersive experience, you can purchase Honoured Patron tickets, which get you a front row seat, as well as a small non-alcoholic drink and snack as part of the production. You’re right in the heart of the action, and it does make for a fascinating experience.

Ashley Skye’s sound design is beautiful, however at the far end of the room was so loud that it was very difficult to hear the actors over the background music, particularly if they were facing the other way. There was music under a large portion of the scenes, which felt mildly distracting, particularly at the volume they were being emitted. I think it is just a flaw of sitting at the far end of the room where the two speakers are, and it was remedied by the end of the play, however a good deal of the initial scenes were partially unintelligible.

Timon of Athens boasts an impressive cast, who give noteworthy performances. Brian Smegal stars as Timon, and brings his charisma and ferocity to this titan of a role. I attended opening night, and was a little disappointed that he had to call for line several times throughout the performance (once wasn’t his fault, he was prompted with the line he had just said, which was potentially also due to the music being so loud at that moment). However, aside from what I’m hoping were mere opening night jitters, Smegal remains an outstanding Shakespearean performer. Zubin Vincent gives a heartfelt and earnest performance as Flavius; he’s the character we pity the most, and Vincent is certainly able to garner that sympathy from the audience. Ray Jacildo is an intense Alcebiades; he gives the soldier a very tough and menacing exterior, and unfortunately we don’t see much else from that character. Mo Zeighami, Nicholas Eddie, Chi-Chi Onuah, and Alexandra Milne play the merchants and various other characters in Timon’s life. They navigate their multiple roles well, and provide some comic relief to a rather severe story. The standout performance of this production comes from the dramaturg and adaptor, who also plays the role of Apemantus, James Evans. His command of the language is unmatched, his banter with Smegal is perfection, and every time he entered the stage I was excited to see what he’d say next.

As a life-long Shakespeare enthusiast, it’s exciting to see companies taking a risk and putting on some of the lesser-known plays; it proves that even though it’s not in a high school curriculum, these stories and these people still speak to us. Timon of Athens shows us the dangers of frivolity and over-spending, along with the duplicity and greed of mankind. This entertaining and unique production will leave you thinking about its poignant themes long after the lights go down.

Timon of Athens runs at the BMO Incubator until November 17th. For more information and tickets, visit: https://theatrecentre.org/event/timon-of-athens/

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Cover Photo: Brian Smegal as Timon. Photo by Parmida Vand, Howland Sessions Media.

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