‘Timon of Athens’ is not the first play that comes to mind when you think of William Shakespeare, though Cypriot-Greek artist Margaret Thanos believes it is arguably his most contemporary and relatable work.
Ms Thanos is the Director of the Sport for Jove production of Shakespeare’s satirical tragicomedy, giving it the title “I Hate People; or Timon of Athens”, which is being presented in Sydney at the Leura Everglades, Blue Mountains until January 21.
According to the artist, this is notably the first time a medium-large theatre company has produced this play in Australia, giving a further indication of its relative anonymity among general audiences.
‘Timon of Athens’ is a tale that centres around the titular character, who is a generous and wealthy Athenian who gives away money wastefully to the point of going in debt and dives into misanthropy when many of his supposed “friends” refuse to help him when he has nothing to give anymore.
The story covers many themes that, like many Shakespeare works, resonate as much today as they did back when it was first written like the meaning of friendship, the value of the human experience and warnings against misanthropy.
Among these notions is also the broader notion of the dangers posed to a society when the forces that govern it are imbalanced.
Ms Thanos argues that any human being can relate to Timon in some way, making the point that modern society places a lot of value on befriending/networking with others to gain opportunities, status, wealth or credibility.
The original text for this work was published in 1623 as part of the First Folio, a collection of Shakespeare’s works released after his death, with the exact time period when it was written unknown, but said to have likely been between late 1605 and1607.
“It is speculated that Timon could have possibly been his last play, given the unfinished version of the manuscript or alternatively that the script was written around a similar time to King Lear and Coriolanus as they seem to be in a similar vein,” Ms Thanos told Neos Kosmos.
Scene from the play. Photo: Supplied
Scene from the play. Photo: Supplied
Scene from the play. Photo: Supplied
Scene from the play. Photo: Supplied
The play is also said to have been co-authored by another writer, with many scholars believing it to be Thomas Middleton and is why he is credited as such in this production.
“It is widely accepted that there is another author to this play as different scenes have a very clearly different writing tone. Thomas Middleton is considered to be the most popular theory, but there is no concrete evidence. We gave him a credit to clarify that there is at least one other author,” Ms Thanos said.
‘Timon of Athens’ is unique in that, though it is written in Shakespeare’s classic five-act structure, it is meant to be presented as two acts and this production preserves that by having an interval that separates Acts 1-3 from Acts 4 and 5.
The Cypriot-Greek artist revealed that their production does modernise and recontextualise the play a little, with her original description of her vision being “Mount Olympus meets the Greek Financial Crisis”.
“Myself and Sport for Jove Artistic Director Damien Ryan have created an adaptation of the text. In it, we use lots of Shakespeare’s original language, but we have also written a new ending in which we pull from multiple other Shakespeare plays,” Ms Thanos said.
Along with these changes, they have also altered other details such as replacing the cave that Timon escapes to with a tent under a scaffold and the original feasts with lavish and extravagant contemporary parties.
The senate is crafted to be reminiscent of every modern parliament while the characters of Alcibiades and Flavia, two of Timon’s only true friends, are turned from male to female.
Alcibiades, a young leader of the army trying to fight for something good and defend Timon’s good nature who ends up waging war on her own city, is played by Eleni Cassimatis and Flavia (originally Flavius), a Yanis Varoufakis type warning of the bad tidings, is played by Deb Galanos.
Speaking on her character, Ms Cassimatis said she felt the gender swapping of the original male character into female adds an extra dimension of intrigue into the production.
“I think this in itself creates a very interesting dynamic in the play, which is certainly a male-dominated, misogynistic world, particularly in the latter half,” Ms Cassimatis told Neos Kosmos.
She added that Alcibiades is a soldier of huge respect and utmost integrity that remains a true and honest friend to Timon, even when he tries to push her away.
“She is a fighter – she fights for what she believes is right, to the point of getting herself banished from Athens. She holds the city accountable. She is loyal almost to a fault. She is strong and fierce. I love getting to go head-to-head with the senators each night,” the actress said.
“I have also loved getting to play with where we get to see her cracks, where we get to see past the soldier and into her heart. I find this journey endlessly fascinating, and it’s a privilege to get to go on it each show.”
The play is another example of storytelling with universal themes, with Ms Thanos stating that at its core it is tearing down the concept of utter nihilism.
In her notes for the production, she explains how Timon is a character that is relatable but not one we should follow and that, despite fixating on a misanthrope, it is anything but an advertisement for it.
“It is a warning against what can happen when the forces that govern a city are imbalanced. The instability that is left at the end of the play feels so truthful of so many failed states today. And yet, amongst all that it is an advertisement for the wonderful nature of life,” Ms Thanos’ notes say.