Timon of Athens

Timon, a famous Athenian man of property, lavishly distributes his wealth to people who mostly befriended him for their own benefit. When he goes bankrupt, their flattery is replaced by ingratitude and the lack of preparedness to help him in distress. All those who previously enjoyed his immense generosity leave him. Facing human duplicity is cruel.
The tragedy Timon of Athens was, as newer textual analyses have discovered, co-authored by Shakespeare (1564–1616) and his contemporary Thomas Middleton (1580–1627). The play shows an individual’s transition from one devastating extreme to another and could easily be titled, »Timon the Misanthrope«. But by doing so, mere two words would duplicate the characteristic of the ancient Greek bearer – as he was described by the old authors who inspired the Renaissance playwrights. Their drama reworking of the story of a misanthrope puts the hermitic destiny of the hero in contrast to his formerly ebullient philanthropy. The change is radical, as the lavish benefactor – upon his own economic demise – faces the society that builds networks based on the active cash flow. This materialisation of social power is also the leading motive of the play, which by thematically emphasising the power of money today also opens space to reflect on the economic and wider social crisis.
In the season that marks the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the SNG Nova Gorica new building, Timon of Athens is staged by Janez Pipan, who twenty years ago also directed the inaugural performance for the new theatre.