Christine Horne and Ben Yoganathan in Tiff’ny of Athens | Photo by Mike McPhaden
Timon of Athens, William Shakespeare’s collaboration with Thomas Middleton and a lesser-known entry in the cannon, is one that resonates quite strongly for me. I dig its surly disenchantment with humanity. While seldom produced, I’ve caught two productions in the space of a year! Presented by Shakespeare in the Ruff, Tiff’ny of Athens is an adaptation by Christine Horne and Nathaniel Hanula-James that chops out a lot of the play’s supporting players and plot, but adds some original material that will likely strike a chord with contemporary, local audiences, especially anybody feeling financially strained.
In a cozy dip in Withrow Park, nestled between two trees, a boisterous quartet of thespians (Horne, Lucy Hill, Warona Setshwaelo and Ben Yoganathan) darts about, costumes flying on and off, as they speed through this story which takes place five thousand years ago, five hundred years ago, and also right now. Athens is expansive here, a place that can be anywhere from the reality of Vancouver or Toronto to an invented metropolis like Gotham.
As Tiff’ny, outrageously generous benefactor adored by all of Athens, Horne is feisty and endearing. Rich and reckless, she’s also genuine, “one of the good ones” you might say. Her committed patronage attracts insatiable hangers-on like a painter (Hill) and a poet (Setshwaelo), who constantly trip all over each other to ingratiate themselves to her. Hill, Setshwaela and Yoganthan each play a multitude of bit personae that feel remarkably lived-in for their swift appearances.
It is after one of her lavish parties, affectionately dubbed “Tiff’ny-palooza,” that her loyal and loving servant Flavius (Yoganathan) breaks the news that our girl’s in some serious debt. In this time of need, her “friends” have nothing but excuses.
One of the clever and chilling new sequences devised by Horne, Hanula-James and director Patricia Allison depicts the CRA bankruptsy-filing process as a Kafkaesque nightmare. Bathed in red light, the automated voice and its detached droning overwhelms Tiff’ny who, desperate and angry, flees to the woods to live in dirt, rejecting the humanity she once adored.
Though their dynamic is highly argumentative, she eventually bonds with local misanthrope, Apemantus, played here with frisky cynicism by Setshwaelo as a churlish podcaster. Having always gone to her parties to feel superior to Tiff’ny and her sycophants, Apemantus is both amused and annoyed by Tiff’ny’s newly-acquired disillusionment. Their conversations are, for me, the play’s most intriguing, wrestling as they do with the form, motivation and philosophical underpinnings of their contrasting ideologies.
Though my favourite scene, and the relationship that I find most poignant, is between Tiff’ny and her servant Flavius. When he tracks her down in the forest, we recognize he is the only one who truly cares about her. The moment that holds lasting, understated power for me is when she, dressed in her tutu smeared in dirt, holds a lantern up to his beseeching face. The mutual affection is palpable and I love how smoothly Yoganathan masters a balance of sympathy, tenderness and frustration.
Timon’s subplot with Alcibiades, exiled military captain launching a violent campaign against Athens, and the story’s original tragic ending is replaced here with a cautiously optimistic coda. Thematically relevant quotes from other Shakespeare plays and cute original verse aside, the greatest invention of Horne and Hanula-James’ adaptation is a finale that allows the mooches, the poet and the painter, a chance to plead their case as artists scrambling for purchase in a society that fails to appreciate both their work and basic human needs.
There is plenty rambunctious dress-up and horseplay as the cast portray multiple roles, jumping in and out of the story’s reality to connect with the audience as theatre practitioners. All theatre is a communal effort, of course, but some shows wear this more conspicuously on their sleeve—helping each other into and out of costumes, holding lights and raising each other up as sport.
Tiff’ny of Athens accomplishes a lot with its modest resources and breezy 75 minute runtime. It feels anarchic, playful and dignified. The cast show us a great time, revelling in the poetic text with firm and grounded intention.
Tiff’ny of Athens
August 14 to 31, 2025
Withrow Park (725 Logan Ave.)
75 minutes (no intermission)
Lucy Hill, Christine Horne and Warona Setshwaelo in Tiff’ny of Athens | Photo by Mike McPhaden