Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Respected Medford firefighter's life cut short by 2010 Oak Knoll fire ... John Thiry, from Oak Knoll to today ... Taking it to the top ... Respected Medford firefighter's life cut short by 2010 Oak Knoll fire ... John Thiry, from Oak Knoll to today ... Taking it to the top ... THEATER REVIEW Comedy in OSF's 'Timon' subdued by darkness Bitter play likely a collaboration by Shakespeare with another Comment By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 14, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Aug 14, 2016 at 9:18 AM By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 14, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Aug 14, 2016 at 9:18 AM » Social News It’s like the old song says: Nobody knows you when you’re down and out. Timon of Athens shows all his friends a really good time, but when he begins to fall so low, they’re outta there. Shakespeare’s seldom-seen genre-bender has long been regarded as an experimental, perhaps unfinished play. It’s likely the result of a collaboration, maybe with Thomas Middleton, and it sometimes seems like it can’t make up its mind whether it’s tragic or comic. In the hands of director Amanda Dehnert, the stripped-down version now playing in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Angus Bowmer Theatre is a sleek, postmodern fable about money in which Shakespeare’s ancient Athens, standing in for London, is haunted by the ghost of Bertolt Brecht. Actors hold up signs telling us what’s going on. Huge drapes over the front of the stage are emblazoned with an essay on the ubiquitous power of money by a young Karl Marx. Songs point up themes (“Brother Can You Spare a Dime?"), and some of the acting purposely calls attention to itself as acting. When Timon rips down the curtains in a rage, we see a backstage of scaffolding and bare walls. Women are large puppets manipulated by actors with rods (read: the objectification of women). Athenians who come to plead with Timon in the woods are signifiers wearing robes covered with words such as thief, justice, power. That all this works as well as it does is in part because Shakespeare was essentially reworking the medieval morality play, and his characters were less real people than allegorical figures to begin with. “Timon of Athens” is almost two plays, rather like “The Winter’s Tale,” but with that play’s dominant modes flipped: comic early, tragic later. Shakespeare took the snark of Lucian and the arbitrary reversals dear to ancient Greek audiences, then threw in the satire beloved by Jacobean theater crowds. That means rough language (lots of dog insults) and a corrosive bitterness. As Timon spreads his swag among the sponging swells of Athens, Anthony Heald’s Timon, perhaps Shakespeare’s most isolated character, seems to be buying love. But he is deeply vulnerable, which makes his switch to misanthropy stunning but logical. Timon’s first banquet is a grotesque spectacle as the rich revel in symbolically dipping their meat in his blood. In the second banquet — stones and water — in which Timon mocks the saying of grace with furious curses, Heald becomes a human flamethrower. Shakespeare gave Timon an entertaining foil in Apemantus (Vilma Silva), a misanthrope in the mold of Thersites. Silva is dour but finds laughs in the character’s vicious wit. Flavius (Robin Goodryn Nordli) tries to warn Timon of his folly but is waved off. Jonathan Haugan’s Alcibiades is a reasonably humane soldier, perhaps foreshadowing some of the characters in the Bard’s upcoming late romances. Dehnert is a sure-handed storyteller who doesn’t hesitate to tweak a text. Female roles have been scratched, including the whores, and some of the male roles are played by women. Various beats have been omitted. For a dark play, “Timon” carries a surprising comic charge in the early acts. Costumes hint at Weimar Germany. A credible rock band comments on the action like a chorus. And Dehnert resisted what must have been a strong temptation to present the Athenians as, say, Wall Street bankers. We’ll never know if Shakespeare was OK with the ending, which lacks the forgiveness and mercy of the soon-to-come romances. The play is as bitter as it gets in the canon, and this is a smart representation of its provocative spirit. Bill Varble writes about arts and entertainment for the Mail Tribune. He can be reached at varble.bill @gmail.com. By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 14, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Aug 14, 2016 at 9:18 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501