TIMON OF ATHENS

This tragedy of an ancient Mediterranean grouch is part of Arkangel's ambitious recording of all Shakespeare's plays. Unfinished and unperformed in the playwright's lifetime, TIMON takes place during the time of Socrates. Deserted by his sycophants after his wealth gives out, Timon leaves Athens, cursing his false countrymen. When he finds new riches, he bankrolls anybody who will harm his former hometown, especially the young soldier Alcibiades. Scholars speculate that Shakespeare abandoned this play before finishing it and that it was never performed in his lifetime. This is not a perfect mounting. The players, all Brits, are uneven. Some judicious editing would have helped orient the sightless listener. The music choices are downright odd. Ah, but the virtues! This is a lean, vigorous production beautifully recorded--living theater in the finest sense. One hears not only the poetry and drama of the Bard, but the showmanship. The emphasis is on clarity, ensemble, and character. One hears the fun of actors who enjoy wrapping their tongues around Elizabethan speech, the apogee of our language, as spoken by its greatest poet. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 01]