REVIEW:
Timon of Athens at the Seymour Centre
Reviewed by: Mardi Downing
Date of Performance: 13.06.2025
Three Words To Describe The Show: Intense, bold, chaotic
Best Thing: Damien Ryan.
Reason to Stay: Full frontal nudity.
Reason to Leave: It was nearly 11pm…
Watch if you feel like: Ancient drama on steroids.
Mid-Interval Thought: When was the last time I saw full frontal nudity on stage?
How the audience reacted: Mixed. Some younger audience members covered their eyes, and others couldn’t stop laughing. This show’s not for everyone, but those who got it, really got it.
Lighting: Serviceable, but at times felt mismatched with the ambition of the scene. The big theatrical moments (think: orgy, parliament, downfall) deserved bolder lighting choices to really land.
Set/Costume: Clever and effective. The world-building was bold; big Athenian pylon, intimate dinner parties and dramatic political arenas. Scene transitions were mostly seamless, and some moments (such as a dramatic fall from the top of Parliament) were genuinely impressive. Costuming nailed the brief: Shakespearean meets sexy modern. Special mention to Timon, whose wardrobe disintegration and eventual disappearance mirrored his moral one.
Acting: Overall, strong but definitely uneven. Damien Ryan was the anchor: raw, powerful, and a masterclass in how Shakespeare should be done. Deborah Galanos brought similar strength, with a captivating performance that felt very natural to her. Lucy Lock and Mike Booth were also standouts, tackling trickier character briefs with humour, nuance, and real stage presence.
Other ones to watch were Jake Speer, Jake Harvey and Lib Campbell, who deserves a nod for juggling multiple roles with ease. That said, the large cast (while refreshing to see so many onstage in the era of two handers and one person shows!) became a bit of a blur. I often questioned what purpose a lot of the characters gave to the story, and a few performances didn’t quite match the scale of the venue. The Seymour Centre stage was matched and unfortunately, most of the time, the vocal energy and attack did not fill the space, which made the show feel flat at times.
Writing: A bold adaptation of a rarely staged but morally rich Shakespearean drama, and full credit to Damien and Margaret for taking it on. However, some of the grand ideas didn’t quite land. The message felt clear well before the end… and then it kept going. And going. The final stretch, heavy on false endings and screaming, felt overworked, diluting what could’ve been a powerful ending delivered 30 minutes earlier.
Directing: Ambitious, but perhaps a little overreaching. The big, chaotic scenes - parties, orgies and political showdowns crackled with energy. But some of the quieter and wordier scenes lost steam, and at times felt unnecessary. A tighter runtime and clearer character focus would have served the production well. The nudity serviced the turmoil of Timon's character in the first act but felt gratuitous and somewhat comical when it appeared again in Act 2.
The sound design also left something to be desired. The music drifted in and out awkwardly, never quite committing to a mood. In a space this big, it needed to be much more decisive to land the emotional beats it was clearly aiming for.
Overall: This show swings big, and often connects, but not always cleanly. It’s exciting to see large-cast, risk-taking theatre on Sydney stages again, and there’s undeniable talent on display. But a tighter edit and more consistent energy would have made this production hit harder. That said, the team took on a lesser-known Shakespeare with humour and boldness, bringing it to life in a way that was fresh and undeniably funny. I left wanting to dig deeper into the original, and determined to keep an eye on whatever Damien Ryan does next.
My review in emojis: 🍾 😂 🏛️ 💰 🤦♂️
Diamond Rating (out of 5): 3.5 / 5 Diamonds