Colchester Fringe Festival 2026
Timon of Athens
Rendered Retina Theatre
Genre: character comedy, Comedy, Live Music, Physical Comedy, Storytelling
Venue: Headgate Theatre
Festival: Colchester Fringe Festival
Low Down
Not every Shakespeare play is good. Some of them are rightly forgotten… like Timon of Athens. This three-person musical re-telling, however, is not one you will forget soon. With great performances, fast pace, and loads of humor, Rendered Retina’s Timon of Athens is truly the spirit of fringe. It is the best adaptation of Timon of Athens that you’ve ever seen… which we’re fairly sure… you have not.
Review
A theatre director said to Rendered Retina, when pitching their new idea for a Shakespeare fringe show, that they should do Timon of Athens. Because they, SURELY, had never heard of this play. They hadn’t… but that small contemptuous comment became the seed for a scrappy and delightful fringe show. Rendered Retina may not have known Timon of Athens then, but now, they have undoubtably created the best production of it EVER.
Timon of Athens is a magically energetic show. Tom Mangan, Alex Mangan, and Jordan Choi bounce off one another with enthusiastic energy. Despite swapping between 15+ characters, there’s never a dull moment between them. Every line becomes an opportunity for silly accents, silly bits, and occasionally even some genuine dramatic performances. They are so in-touch with one another, finely choreographed, and likewise allowing for improvisational silliness. It’s one of those shows where if you look at any of the three performers they are ALWAYS doing a bit, even if they’re not even technically playing a character. It’s therefore no surprise why there was a steady wave of rapturous laughter and chuckles.
Now what is Timon of Athens about you ask? A man gives away all his money. He fights a dragon. Something something. The entire plot can be explained in under a minute, as Rendered Retina does at the end. It’s a forgotten Shakespeare play for a good reason, that reason being, that it’s really bad. This re-telling of it, however, makes you believe for a moment that actually… maybe it is a masterpiece. Let’s not give Shakespeare the credit here. The high-quality is all to do with the brilliance of these performers.
The closest genre equivalent is folk punk. I imagine the internal pitch for this show went: “between the three of us, we can sing, play a guitar and a flute… let’s write a Shakespeare musical.” And you know what, it freaking rules. Timon of Athens somehow turns Shakespeare’s flop into a celebratory retelling. The fringe spirit is often about making due with very little. You got a box, a few funny hats, and a guitar? Great. Rendered Retina prove you can make one of the best damn shows at the fringe. A friend complained to me that Rendered Retina re-used a few hats from their previous show King John. That comment made me want to punch that now ex-friend. Is that really how low we will go to criticize great theatre? I surely will not. Fringe is about the spirit of comradery and a can-do scrappy attitude. If you love fringe theatre, you will love this.
