Arts & Entertainment
National Theatre Live: TIMON OF ATHENS
Simon Russell Beale takes the title role in Shakespeare's strange fable of conspicuous consumption, debt and ruin, written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton.
Wealthy friend to the rich and powerful, patron of the arts, ostentatious host, Timon of Athens showers gifts and hospitality on the city's elite - but when he calls on them for help, they hang him out to dry. After a final, vengeful banquet, Timon withdraws to a literal and emotional wasteland, living off roots and pouring ever more surreal curses on a morally bankrupt Athens.
"Mischievous energy. Stunning" -The Times
"Hytner... hurls Timon into the 21st century and finds it lands there almost perfectly." - Daily Telegraph