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Humanity as commodity
With its timeless exploration of the corrupting power of money, it's little wonder that Timon of Athens was Marx's favourite play, says GORDON PARSONS
MATTHEW HAWKINS explores the initiatives proposed by HEALING ARTS SCOTLAND
ALEX HALL welcomes an analysis of how modern capitalism is deeply intertwined with emotions, and their manipulation
MARTIN GRAHAM welcomes a statistical analysis of how much tax the super-rich pay, and foresees that the demand will flush out their agents
RICHARD WORTH relishes the fleeting moment and sense of flow of the late, great saxophonist
DENNIS BROE notes the thin, unfunny and apolitical quality of the gruel dished up by the US networks and studios for mass consumption
BARBARA BOSWELL remembers South African poet, storyteller, publisher, editor and activist Diana Ferrus (1953-2026)
Timon of Athens
The Swan Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon
UNSURPRISINGLY, Timon of Athens is one of Shakespeare's least performed plays. With its schematic structure and simple message that money is the root of all evil, it's virtually the Bard's one attempt at agit-prop drama.
Demonic: Kathryn Hunter (Pic: Simon Annand)
The play's stage success depends essentially on the actor playing Timon. (S)he must make us believe in a real human being who can convince as the naively benevolent obsessive of the play's first half while mutating into the malevolent misanthrope of the second.
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