Shakespeare Company Brings Tymon (of Athens) to Monument Park

Fort Lee’s 2011 season of Shakespeare in the Park continues Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in on Palisade Ave.—weather permitting—with the first of two performances of Tymon of Athens.

Sponsored by the Fort Lee Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, the series brings the Hudson Shakespeare Company—now in its 20th season touring communities in northern New Jersey and Connecticut—to Fort Lee for the fifth time this summer after two performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the park in June and two performances of Henry V in late July and early August.

If you miss Tuesday’s performance of Tymon of Athens in Fort Lee, or if weather turns out to be an issue, you will have another chance. An encore performance is scheduled for next Tuesday, Aug. 23, as well—same time, same place. Shows are free to the public, and patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets and coolers.

Below is a synopsis of Tymon of Athens provided to Patch by the Hudson Shakespeare Company, which describes the performance as “Shakespeare meets ‘The Great Gatsby’” and “a 1920s version of ‘Timon of Athens:’”

Each season the company brings its audiences some of the Bard's lesser-known shows exposing some hidden gems not normally seen by many theatergoers. This year's entry is "Timon of Athens" directed by Jon Ciccarelli. The story of an overly generous man who gives too much of his bank account and soul to people who thinks are his friends while turning away those who truly care about him.

The setting of the play is Athens, but the company's production is transposed to an eastern U.S. city in the 1920s populated with mobsters, crooked politicians, con artists looking to make their next score and the good man, Timon (Imran Sheikh), a former solider who comes into wealth through political connections and land dealings.

Having seen something of the dark side of life himself, Timon altruistically seeks to help those who he considers in need and derives pleasure from seeing his "friends" made happy by his generosity. Like his literary counterpart, Jay Gatsby, Timon feels the good times will last forever.

Unknown to Timon, his funds are fast running out, and his ever-faithful steward, Flavius (Noelle Fair), tries to speak with him. But Timon's attention is always turned to who needs his help next. Whether its the corrupt senators of Athens, Sempronius (David Neal), Lucullus (Peter Guaracci) or Lucius (Josh Fielden), looking for a "gift" or the Poet (Laura Mae Baker) and the Painter (Melissa Meli) peddling their latest creation, Timon's generosity sets him on a collision course with disaster.

Although, Timon receives several warnings from his true friends, Apemantus (Charles Roby), a cynical and funny reporter, and Alcibiades (Michael Hagins), an old army buddy, Timon thinks the good times will never end; that is until his creditors come calling.

Timon seeks help from his friends in his time of financial need but universally has doors shut in his face. Desperate, the once generous Timon becomes jaded and cynical against all humanity and goes to live in the wilderness outside the city, inciting any anarchy against Athens that he can muster. Meanwhile, his friend Alcibiades is banished from the city for coming to the aid of a friend and plots a military overthrow of the city.
Written in 1607, the tragicomedy speaks volumes to our recession-filled times: about how the good times can come crashing to a halt and how it changes us; about recognizing who your true friends are and those who are just out to use you.

Shakespeare collaborated with a young playwright, John Middleton, to create a satire on the London of his times by using the ancient Greek biography of Timon. Hudson Shakespeare Company transposes the production from ancient Greece to the "Roaring Twenties," a time filled with excess, corruption and parties to create a production punctuated with jazz dance numbers, comic wordplay and thought-provoking characters that speak both to hard times and the relationships that matter.