Shakespeare Tavern Presents MACBETH and TIMON OF ATHENS 10/28-10/28

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company at The New American Shakespeare Tavern Presents Macbeth and Timon of Athens.

Macbeth (Six Performances Only)
Directed by Drew Reeves
Featuring Jeff Watkins and Tiffany Porter as the Macbeths
Performances October 28-31 and Nov 11 & 18

The week of Halloween we venture to Scotland for this haunting tale of prophecy, greed and power.

Timon of Athens
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Drew Reeves
$12 General Admission Previews Thursday November 4 & Friday November 5
Performances November 6-28, 2010 (with the exception of Nov 11 & 18)

"We have seen better days". - (Act IV, Scene II).

Timon is a wealthy Athenian noble who responds to flattery by hosting banquets, giving gifts and bailing out his suitors. When his fortune runs out and his friends reject his pleas for help, he becomes an embittered recluse and, after seeing that those who abandoned him suffer, withdraws to die.

Money: it can't buy love, but, in Timon's case, it does promote hate.

Timon of Athens may be a simple story about a generous and self-indulgent man driven to misanthropy by his fair-weather friends, but it produces an avalanche of philosophical questions: Does Timon deserve our compassion for shunning society and condemning/contaminating the very people he once called friends? Does he deserve to be punished for his vanity and ostentation or is he right to expect more from his parasitic friends? Is there a place for cynicism in society? Watch and Decide.

Join the cast and crew members for a Question and Answer session on Sunday October 3 after the show!

TIMON OF ATHENS synopsis
by Drew Reeves

Act I
The merchants and artisans of Athens are gathered around Timon's house, including a poet and a painter who have created works specifically for him to purchase. Timon is a wealthy Athenian, and everyone knows he spends and gives his wealth extravagantly. When he arrives the merchants and artisans all flatter him to gain his business, and the lords flatter him for gifts. Lords offer gifts to him knowing he will give them back much more in gifts and money. Apemantus, a philosopher, arrives and begins insulting everyone. His insults, however, do speak to the truth of the overly generous Timon and the shallow flatterers. Alcibiades arrives, and is the only person to greet Timon warmly. Timon invites all into his house for a feast.

At the feast, Timon provides food and wine to all, and has hired dancing girls to entertain them. In addition, Timon continues to give gifts and money as he proclaims them all his friends. Only Apemantus and Alcibiades refuse his gifts. Apemantus has brought his own food and drink and continues to rudely comment on the whole situation. Flavius, Timon's faithful Steward, is worried for his master because he's starting to run out of money.

Flavius has tried to protect Timon by borrowing from wealthy Senators. They become concerned with his extravagance and begin sending their servants to collect the debts. Flavius tries to keep them at bay, but ultimately must confess to Timon that he is now broke. Timon sends to his friends for help, and to collect debts owed to him, but they all refuse.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, a friend of Alcibiades is being put to death. Alcibiades pleads for the life of his friend. The Senators refuse to acquiesce and banish Alcibiades from Athens. Before he leaves he vows to take vengeance on Athens for the wrongs done to him and others.

Timon invites the lords who have denied their assistance to another feast. When the dishes are uncovered they contain water instead of food. Timon goes into a rage, chases off the lords, and burns down his house. He leaves Athens to live in the woods and renounces wealth and the society of men. Flavius and Timon's other servants are now without a home or a job. Flavius splits all of the money he has among the others and vows to remain true to Timon.

Act II
Timon is now living alone in a cave. He spends his time digging for roots to eat. While digging, he discovers buried gold and is once again a wealthy man. He denounces wealth as an evil that will destroy society.

Alcibiades, accompanied by two prostitutes, happens by on his way to attack Athens. He tries to talk to Timon, but Timon rejects his friendship. Timon gives him gold which he takes to pay his soldiers.

Apemantus comes seeking Timon because he has heard that Timon affects his manners. He offers Timon food but Timon refuses it with curses. He observes that Timon never knew the middle of humanity, but had only lived at the extremes. The two misanthropes fall into an exchange of insults. As Apemantus leaves, three thieving soldiers arrive. Timon freely gives them gold so they no longer have to be thieves, which drives at least one of them from his wicked ways.
Flavius comes in next. His compassion moves Timon, but in the end Timon still drives him away. Next the Poet and Painter come in because they've heard of Timon's new found wealth. Timon drives them away. Two Senators come to ask Timon's aid in turning back Alcibiades attack. Timon drives them away.
The Senators take the news back to Athens that Timon has refused his aid. They prepare for Alcibiades attack.

A soldier happens upon Timon's hole, and finds him dead. Timon has written his own epitaph on a gravestone, but the soldier cannot read. He makes a wax inscription and takes it to Athens.

Alcibiades and his army are before the gates of Athens. The soldier brings news of Timon's death, and Alcibiades reads his epitaph. He reconciles with Athens, but vows to heal the city of its shallow ways.

Timon of Athens Director's Notes (Drew Reeves):

It is my great pleasure to invite you to share a milestone. By directing TIMON OF ATHENS, I complete a lifelong dream of working on all of the plays compiled in the First Folio, and the Atlanta Shakespeare Company takes another giant step towards its goal of completing the ‘Shakespeare Canon', which includes four plays not found in the First Folio.

As a self-proclaimed ‘Shakespeare Geek' the opportunity to direct TIMON OF ATHENS is a rare, delicious treat. Left unfinished and never produced during Shakespeare's career means that we are performing a work by Shakespeare that even his own company didn't. We are working with an unfinished draft of what appears to be an experimental play for the time.

So now I'm going to cut to the chase: my intent here is to try to convince you to come see this show. We can get you to flock to see ROMEO AND JULIET, MACBETH and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM over and over, but sometimes with the more obscure plays such as this one, you don't come! Admittedly, sometimes there's reason for that. The lesser known ones are often thought of as ‘lesser plays', paler versions of ROMEO AND JULIET, MACBETH and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. TIMON OF ATHENS, however, is its own unique play, unlike anything else in the Shakespeare canon in many ways. The main theme of ‘friendship and finances don't mix' is as timeless as the themes of the greatest plays, and the subject of daily conversations and conflicts between so many people I know. Adding to the intrigue and controversy for this play, and one of my favorite elements from my research, is that it was a particular favorite of Karl Marx.

Though the play is not necessarily ‘pro-socialist', it does come across as very ‘anti-capitalist'. I should also let you this will not be a typical Tavern staging. Our love of a bare bones style which we call ‘Original Practice' is, in my opinion, partly because the great ones can stand on their own. We don't need to re-write Shakespeare, he did a good enough job on his own, in most cases. He didn't finish this one, though. Also, it was never performed, so his intent on the staging can't be fully imagined from the text. As a director, I felt an obligation to help "finish and form" this incomplete text for you, the audience. This production will have an overarching conceptual element utilizing Greek style mask work to help clarify some aspects of the story, focus it on the vibrant and engaging moral and ethical questions raised through this study of the dark side of an ‘Everyman', and hopefully give it the a sense of completion that Shakespeare never did.

Performance days & times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, and Sundays at 6:30 PM. 10 AM most Tuesday and Wednesdays (Macbeth only).

Ticket Prices:
Seating areas: Main Floor Seats, Box Seats (on floor) and Balcony Seats

Thurs night:
Main: $20
Box: $17
Balcony: $12

Friday night:
Main: $28
Box: $24
Balcony: $22

Saturday night:
Main: $32
Box: $28
Balcony: $24

Sunday night:
Main: $24
Box: $20
Balcony: $15

An 8% sales tax is added on top of all purchases made at The Shakespeare Tavern.

Discount Ticket Options: $12 tickets for Previews (unless otherwise noted);. Student/Educator prices: $5 off per price level per night except in the Balcony on Thursdays and Sundays. Not valid on Saturday nights. $12 for 10am matinees. $3 off for Military, Seniors, Groups of 10 or more, except in the Balcony on Thursdays and Sundays. Promotional discount offers are not valid closing weekend of a performance.

Purchase Tickets Online for most performances at www.shakespearetavern.com

For information on:
The Shakespeare Club Program and Flex Pass: call or email The Tavern Box Office at 404.874.5299 or boxoffice@shakespearetavern.com or visit our website at www.shakespearetavern.com

Education Programs and Workshops: call or email Laura Cole, Education Director at 404-874-5299, X58 or laura@shakespearetavern.com

Volunteer Opportunities: call or email Suzanne Mercer, Volunteer Coordinator at

404-874-5299, X59 or suzanne@shakespearetavern.com

Accessibility and The Shakespeare Tavern: The Shakespeare Tavern is handicapped accessible. Please let the box office know if you have any special needs that we should be aware of in order to make your Shakespeare Tavern experience the very best we can. Our handicapped entrance ramp/parking is located directly behind our building. Once you turn onto Renaissance Parkway from Peachtree Street, you will turn right onto Courtland Street. The Tavern's back entrance will be immediately on your right once you clear the building on the corner and the traffic poles. The turn comes up quickly, so please drive slowly. Handicapped parking is directly in front of the ramp, behind our building.

Location: The New American Shakespeare Tavern is located at 499 Peachtree Street, NE, just four blocks south of The Fox Theater and directly across the street from Emory University Hospital Midtown.

Parking: In the evening, we recommend parking in the Emory University Hospital Midtown Parking Deck located directly across the street from the front doors of The Shakespeare Tavern on Peachtree Street. Bring your ticket stub to the parking lot attendant at the end of the night and get a discounted parking price. (Regular parking price is $5; discounted price is $4 WITH TICKET STUB!)

We also recommend parking in the InterPark Parking lot, located on the corner of Peachtree and Renaissance Parkway. This is a paid surface lot that should be attended. Parking is usually $5-$7.

DO NOT park on Pine Street or in the empty parking lots on Pine Street. Your car might be booted if you park in these lots.

Food and Beverage Service: The Tavern opens one hour and fifteen minutes before the performance for food and beverage service. Chef for a Night provides a British-pub-style menu for dinner. The Tavern has a beer, wine, coffee, tea, and soft drink bar that serves Bass and Guinness on tap.

Seating and Box Office: Seating is done on a "first come, first served" basis within each designated section. Table seating is limited however all seats can accommodate food and beverages. For reservations or more information, call or email The Tavern Box Office at 404.874.5299 or boxoffice@shakespearetavern.com or order tickets on-line at www.shakespearetavern.com

The Shakespeare Tavern is a registered 501 ( C ) 3 non-profit organization and is a member of The Actor's Equity Association, the professional union of actors and stage managers.

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company (ASC) at The New American Shakespeare Tavern is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA is a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. Major support is provided by the Fulton County Commission under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council. Major support also is provided by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs. But, PRIMARILY, ASC is funded through the generous support provided by people just like you through the Shakespeare Club, the Royals and the Exceptions.