Actor Ian McDiarmid is bringing a rare Shakespeare show to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier. Timon of Athens tells the story of fortune and how the world of wealth can change in an instant.
McDiarmid grew up in the theater eventually winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Faith Healer in 2006.
Audiences may recognize him from as the emperor with the black hood in Return of the Jedi as well as the Star Wars prequels.
Windy City Times traveled down to visit McDiarmid on the set during early rehearsals for Timon.
Windy City Times: Hello, Ian. So you are from Scotland?
Ian McDiarmid: The east coast [of Scotland]. I was born in Carnoustie, which is a golfing village, but I was brought up in the next largest town, called Dundee.
WCT: You wanted to be in theater since you were little, correct?
IM: I suppose so. I first had the experience of seeing variety theater in Dundee. Variety is simply no longer in existence like your vaudeville. I had to go along because my uncle was the stage manager. I didn't know what I was going to. My parents were a bit doubtful about taking me to the theater when I was 5 years old, but I sat there mesmerized. It felt like a dream when the dancers came on. When their feet hit the stage I thought they were making the sound the orchestra was making because I didn't see the orchestra.
WCT: It was magic to you.
IM: Exactly—magic. The comic came on and in those days they wore quite a lot of makeup. When I went backstage to me meet him I was both terrified and fascinated of this clown. I think then at 5 years old something started in me that led into what I am doing now.
WCT: Look at that. You have done lots of Shakespeare's work.
IM: I have done a bit. I was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company but I haven't done tons of Shakespeare because oddly enough they do more contemporary plays than old ones. The last one I have done was The Tempest at a theater that I used to run in London. Barbara Gaines, the director of Timons, used to come to that show and wanted me to work with her someday. She put her cards on the table with a 25th anniversary coming up, so here we are. I am very happy to be here.
WCT: Tell our readers about this show.
IM: Well, I like Timon of Athens first of all because it is hardly ever done. I think you do it in the U.S. more than we do it at home, although having said that there is a production coming out later in the year at the National Theatre in London.
The reasons are pretty simple. If you read it, it's very messy. Shakespeare didn't finish it. It was never performed in his lifetime. We think maybe because it would have been too offensive for the then king, James VI of Scotland. He was a spendthrift because he threw a lot of money at his friends and this play deals with that. We don't know all the reasons.
I have always been fascinated by it. Barbara and I agreed that we should make it clearer than it has been up until now without taking away from the spirit of the play, which is strangely jagged. We have had the time to do it so we worked on this version that you will see when we open.
WCT: Where is the play set in?
IM: We agreed that it should be set in contemporary America. It deals with people that have too much money then when one character runs out of it tries to borrow from a friend. The one friend says, "It is not a good time to lend money."
WCT: Which is very current!
IM: Yes; it is hitting us in the face. It would be irresponsible not to do it. I also like the notion in this because I am a British lord who has been born with a great deal of money then comes to America and makes even more. All of these things seem exciting and a good idea. I always like working with American actors and have done it in movies but never in the theater before.
WCT: Are there actors from Chicago in the cast?
IM: There are a large number of Chicago actors as well as actors who have done lots of Shakespeare work in other cities. I am learning from them so we are giving and taking from each other.
WCT: Is it a big cast?
IM: It is because we have a dance team in it, too. I heard 38 [members], but I can't believe it. Originally it was a dance of Amazons but the dance captain at the Joffrey has choreographed our segment.
WCT: How are rehearsals going?
IM: Very well; we just got on the stage for the first time this morning. We got quite a bit done today. This is a shorter show with two acts of 50 minutes so people can have dinner after.
WCT: There are some long Shakespeare plays out there.
IM: I think people associate Shakespeare with long but they won't feel too duty-bound with this one.
WCT: What is the tone of the show?
IM: It is very hard to describe. It is a mixture of styles. It is amusing at first but then in second half he turns into revenge mode and destroys the house. He's a giver in the first half then misanthropic in the second half.
WCT: Is there something special for our LGBT audience in the show?
IM: I don't think they will be disappointed. There is something for everybody. It is that kind of house that Timon keeps. It is interesting that, apart from servers and dancers, there are no women in the play. In the original there were two whores that were women that came on, but this has been transmuted into one man. Sexuality in the play, as it is in life, is highly ambiguous.
WCT: As far as your movie career, it was amazing that you were able to be in so many of the Star Wars movies.
IM: That was luck. They originally wanted to cast the part for someone that was 128 years old. That was impossible but they did find a character much older. He couldn't take contact-lens tests so they had to let him go. The casting director saw me play a Howard Hughes character in a small English theater. After meeting George Lucas briefly I got the part as the emperor of the universe. With that name I had to do it!
When the prequels came around I was the right age to play myself. He could have asked anyone in the world to play the part but he asked me. So wasn't I lucky?
WCT: There is a rumor about a Star Wars television series.
IM: It is not a rumor. They have scripts, this after episode three when I rule the universe. George's notion is to get people you haven't seen into that. The problem is the budget because it will cost so much to make one episode. He doesn't compromise. Until he can get that money guaranteed they won't go forward.
WCT: Just like in Timon of Athens, everything is all about money!
IM: Indeed.
Timon of Athens runs now through June 10 in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater at Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave. Visit www.chicagoshakes.com for ticket information and show times.
