Timon of Athens

The current US administration, and indeed the global capitalist system, is constantly focused on the creation and sustainability of wealth, often at the expense of the wellbeing of the general public. As the use of money and the dishonesty it seems to promote is a major theme of this play, it seems very relevant in today’s economic climate: particularly in regards to the current “cost of living crisis”. It is easy to draw parallels between our own period of late stage capitalism and the many calamities stemming from it (class/racial/religious prejudice, climate disaster, territorial conflicts) and the world of the play. It also poses the ever pertinent question, as explored in many works of Shakespeare: what constitutes effective leadership?

Timon, exceptionally wealthy and unbridled in their generosity, wines and dines the elite, serves as a patron to the arts and magnanimously funds the state. Convinced of the loving nature of humanity, he gives and keep on giving. Surely if Timon accidentally gave it all away his friends would be there to return the favour? This darkly funny, spin on Shakespeare’s riches to rags anti-capitalist satire will wow audiences with its confronting relevance to our lives today.