Timon of Athens at Folger Theatre

Timon of Athens

Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol Street, SE Washington

Shakespeare's tragic and ever timely satire on the steep price of prosperity tracks the fall of a rich and powerful aristocrat in Timon of Athens. Timon's lavish lifestyle and generosity lead to a downturn in his finances, and he's promptly abandoned by his so-called friends once his fortune is depleted. Starring in the title role is Ian Merrill Peakes, who won a Helen Hayes Award for his performance in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead this past year at Folger Theatre. This D.C. production is directed by Robert Richmond (Richard III, Othello and Henry V at Folger).

Thru - Jun 11, 2017

Price: $35-$75

Box Office: 202-544-7077

www.folger.edu/theatre

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Timon of Athens Reviews

Average Rating based on 7 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...It takes an actor of Peakes's declamatory resourcefulness to keep us fully engaged. He recently added dramatic heft to Shakespeare Theatre's presentation of Mike Bartlett's "King Charles III," playing a wily prime minister, and over the years he has anchored with magnetism such Folger offerings as "Macbeth," "Othello" and "Measure for Measure." His Timon is another notable achievement. He summons here all the necessary reserves of bravado and anguish. The neurotic disorders Peakes applies to the character - for good measure, he tosses in a hint of obsessive-compulsive behavior - set us up convincingly for the play's pitiable outcome: This is a man whose long-standing private suffering has become public."

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- Peter Marks

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Folger's Timon of Athens is verbal white heat. It is a combustible mix right for these currents of disruption and political quicksand. Was Timon undone by his goodness? As I wrote at the top of this review, I can't go there even as Lord Timon's rails against "false world," and hates humanity. Do I pity the character of Lord Timon? That is difficult for me; for his own hubris does him in."

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- David Siegel

MetroWeekly - Recommended

"...Timon never quite endears himself enough to be tragic, nor do his enemies truly get their just desserts, unless you count a significant dry-cleaning bill. Subplots about the political health of Athens and Timon's friend Alcibiades, ably played by Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, hang largely unresolved. Ultimately, it feels like some kind of morality play that deflates into a long-winded, anatomy of a bagman."

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- Kate Wingfield

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"..."Timon of Athens" has been criticized as a work for feeling a bit unfinished, but it is a story that has increasing relevance in today's world. Richmond's coupling of technology and the disconnectedness of the personal relationships in this play is both astute and timely. Shakespeare himself said that the purest purpose of theater is "to hold a mirror up to nature," and that is exactly what this production achieves. It also enhances the play's satire of the emptiness of greed and flattery and how a truly good man and leader should seek to avoid both, at the cost of their own peril. Whether you are a Shakespeare aficionado of the highest degree, or someone looking to learn more, "Timon of Athens" is a fantastic study of the frailties of man."

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- Kristin Franco

Theatre Bloom - Highly Recommended

"...He that loves to be flattered with worthy of the flattery. What if that being flattered is deserving of the flattery? Are they too then still worthy of the flattery? Perhaps even more so! Folger Theatre, in particular Director Robert Richmond, deserves a great deal of flattery for the current production of Timon of Athens, closing out the 2016/2017 season upon the stage inside the great Folger Shakespeare Library. Under Robert Richmond's judiciously rendered vision and modernization, this rarely produced Shakespearean tragedy-problem play receives an invigorating facelift, transfixing the audience to the greed that drives the core of humanity. Baring remarkable weight on present-day socio-economic issues, this striking production gives the audience much to mull over as they examine the way wealth factors into their daily lives."

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- Amanda Gunther

DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended

"...It was a brave man who first et an oyster, Jonathan Swift once wrote. Maybe so, but not nearly as brave as someone who seeks to stage Timon of Athens, which could otherwise be known as "Shakespeare with Writer's Block." When ranking Shakespeare's plays, most people agree that Timon is the rankest, but director Robert Richmond and the gang at Folger Shakespeare Theatre have gotten every last drop of good out of it. Though Timon is a journey without a destination, Folger makes sure that it is at least a thrilling ride."

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- Tim Treanor

BroadwayWorld - Recommended

"...Peakes' performance is a marvel, he's working with an intensity that's on high from start to finish and is at the center of every scene. One hope he gets his heart rate checked at the end of every performance to make sure he doesn't expire in a rage right on the boards. The support cast is often just as inspired, with Antoinette Robinson's emotional Flavius and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh's thoughtful soldier Alcibiades among the standouts."

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- Roger Catlin