Timon of Athens
Generosity is easy, until the money dries up
by William Shakespeare
directed by Rob Melrose
Directed by Cutting Ball co-founder Rob Melrose, Timon of Athens is one of Shakespeare’s neglected classics, featuring some of the Bard's more experimental verse paired with some of his best poetry.
About the Play
Timon's the hottest CEO this side of Market Street: he's young, he's rich, and there's nothing he likes better than hosting a wild party and spreading wealth amongst his flocking friends. Why not, after all, when the coffers never seem to run dry? But when Timon's financial portfolio fails, his inner circle flees and he finds himself desperate, desolate, and literally in the gutter. Set in San Francisco's near future, a city marked by radical gentrification and sweeping economic disparity, Cutting Ball's Timon of Athens brings brand new relevance to Shakespeare's neglected classic.
Director Rob Melrose discusses the inspiration behind choosing Timon of Athens and its forgotten place in the cannon in his essay "A Diamond in the Rough".
"The dilemma for Timon, as for any of us who is aggrieved toward our intimates if even for a moment, is that it is impossible to call out ingratitude." Frank H. Wu, distinguished professor at UC Hastings College of the Law and blogger for the Huffington Post, offers his take on Timon of Athens and its lasting relevance in "Timon: King of the Ingrates".
Reviews
"Rob Melrose's fleet direction" leads to a "striking" production of Timon of Athens"-SF Chronicle
"Timon of Athens "vibrant", "beautifully poetic" and "glittering." -SF Examiner
"The cast of Timon of Athens is full of "ferocious energy" and "vivid life" -Stark Insider
Special
Events
Tech Talkback
with Erik Blachford and Rusty Rueff, following the performance of Timon of Athens on Wednesday, April 18th
Tech and theater collide in our Timon of Athens, but does Shakespeare’s text capture the industry's excess and impermanence?
On April 18, see the play and chat with Rusty Rueff (former CEO of SNOCAP, former Vice President of Electronic Arts) and Erik Blachford (TCV Venture Partner, former CEO of Expedia) in a special talkback about the meteoric rises and cataclysmic falls that link Timon to today's tech industry.
Pre-Show Discussion
with Mary-Kay Gamel on Saturday, April 14th at 7 pm in the lobby of our theater.
Rob Melrose (director) is co-founder of the Cutting Ball Theater and works nationally as a freelance director. He has directed at The Guthrie Theater (Happy Days, Pen, Julius Caesar – with the Acting Company); The Public Theater (Pericles); The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Troilus and Cressida – in association with the Public Theater), The Old Globe (Much Ado About Nothing); Magic Theatre (An Accident, World Premiere); PlayMakers Rep (Happy Days); Black Box Theatre (The Creature, World Premiere, BATCC Award for direction), as well as Actors’ Collective and Crowded Fire, among others. His directing credits at Cutting Ball include Ondine (World Premiere), Pelleas & Melisande, the Bay Area Premiere of Will Eno’s Lady Grey (in ever lower light); Bone to Pick and Diadem (World Premiere); The Taming of the Shrew; Macbeth; Hamletmachine;
Ed Berkeley is a Bay Area based Actor originally from the East coast (New England). He’s predominantly a Stage Actor who has been enough to have worked with companies such as: San Francisco Playhouse in Colossal, Custom Made Theatre in In Love and Warcraft, and New Conservatory Theatre Center in Warplay, and The Cutting Ball Theater in Phédre. Berkeley is happy to be working with The Cutting Ball Theater again with this wonderful team and this original conception of a classic.
María Ascensión Leigh is a Bay Area based actor and collaborator. Recent work includes Idiot String: Elixir of Life, The Breadbox: MacBitch, We Players: Romeo & Juliet, Custom Made Theatre Company: Of Serpents & Sea Spray, and Tartuffe co-produced at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington D.C.).
Adam Neimann is thrilled to make his debut with Cutting Ball Theater—the first Bay Area theater company Adam ever saw a show. Adam's credits include Berkeley Repertory Theatre (u/s for Macbeth and It Can’t Happen Here), Ray of Light Theatre (Reefer Madness), Custom Made Theatre Co. (Isaac’s Eye and Vonnegut’s Mother Night), Douglas Morrisson Theatre (Book of Days), FaultLine Theater (Oreo Carrot Danger), Awesome Theater (TERROR-RAMA II), and Berkeley Playhouse (Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan and Tarzan). Adam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and studied at the A.C.T. Summer Training Congress.
Find more at www.AdamNiemann.com.
Doug Nolan is thrilled to make his Cutting Ball debut! Credits include: American Conservatory Theater (Enrico IV, Threepenny Opera), Shakespeare Santa Cruz(Kean, Love's Labour's Lost), Marin Shakespeare Company (Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream), Magic Theater (Balm in Gilead, Scattering Poems All Through the Night), Shotgun Players (Arrivals/Departures), Half Moon Bay Shakespeare Company (Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet), Coastal Repertory Theatre (August: Osage County, Every Christmas Story Ever Told). Doug has been juggling and clowning professionally for more than 25 years. He earned an MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater.
Brennan Pickman-Thoonis excited return to The Cutting Ball Theater in Timon of Athens! Bay Area: Phèdre (Cutting Ball), Landscape of the Body (Bigger Than A Breadbox), Julius Caesar & The Winter's Tale (California Shakespeare Theater). New York: The Mormon Bird Play (New York Fringe Festival), Stalled (Unchained Theatre Festival), The Lion in Winter & Aesop's Fables (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble).
Radhika Rao is an actor, director, storyteller, improvisor, teaching artist, and arts-integrator. She proudly serves as the Education Coordinator for Cutting Ball Theater. She is a member of Eth-noh-tec storyteling ensemble and a resident artist of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. She regularly performs and directs for ‘New Work’ festivals. She is currently performing in SF Shakespeare Festival's Hamlet and in the fall, will be seen in Central Works’ Strange Ladies. At Cutting Ball, she was last seen in A Dreamplay in 2016.
More at radhikarao.org.
David Sinaiko is a Cutting Ball Associate Artist, where his credits include: Life’s a Dream, Mount Misery, Ubu Roi, The Chairs, Tenderloin, The Tempest, Endgame, Taming of the Shrew, and many others. Shotgun Players: Hamlet, Village Bike, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Antigonick, and The Coast of Utopia. Co-founder of Chicago’s New Crime Productions, where credits include: Heart of a Dog, The Balcony, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Methusalem, and Alagazam! Additionally: Just Theater, Golden Thread, Crowded Fire, SF Playhouse, The Goodman Theatre, and The Actor’s Gang. Film includes: The Grifters and Bob Roberts, among others.
John Steele, Jr attended the University of Oklahoma as a part of their BFA program in acting with a specialty in playwriting. Since then he has performed across the Bay with Summer Repertory Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, SF Shakespeare Festival, SF Playwrights Foundation, We Players, New Conservatory Theatre Center, the Breadbox, and regionally in two seasons with the Great River Shakespeare Festival. John is also a professional makeup artist and spends his days working at Sephora Powell Street.
Courtney Walsh appeared in title role of Phèdre at Cutting Ball in 2017. Other credits include locally: Marin Theatre Company (Native Son), San Francisco Playhouse (Jerusalem, Seared), We Players (Romeo and Juliet), 3Girls Theatre (The Couch), NCTC (Dear Harvey), Stanford Repertory Theater (nine seasons including Moby Dick – Rehearsed, winning TBA awards for Acting, Directing, Production). International credits: Paris and Montpellier (Happy Days); Athens (The Wanderings of Odysseus); Berlin, Amsterdam, Cardiff, Sydney, Auckland, others (Tangled Justice). Courtney studied theater at Yale University and during a hiatus from acting was an attorney for abused children.
Design Team:
Scenic Designer Michael Locher
Costume Designer Alina Bokovikova
Lighting Designer Heather Basarab
Sound Designer Cliff Caruthers
Properties Designer Stephanie Dittbern
Choreographer Randee Paufve
Artwork by Jennifer Berkowitz
Timon of Athens is made possible in part by Associate Producers Mark Rabine and Lydia Chavez, Marsha Cohen and Bob Feyer, Jody Gelb, Reva Rao, and Darrel Schregardus and Actor Sponsors Pat and Stuart Lum sponsoring Brennan Pickman-Thoon, and Michael and Vivian Brown sponsoring Ed Berkeley.