The Six Wives Of Timothy Leary

The name doesn't mean much outside of New Age circles nowadays, but back in the day Timothy Leary was one of the most infamous men on Earth. The ex-Harvard professor evangelized LSD from the late 60s onward. He was worshipped and reviled in equal measure, remaining an enigmatic figure to this day.

Here we see the chaotic and contradictory figure through the eyes of the six women he married. Through one-sided conversations and fractured monologues we gradually piece together the character of the man deified by 1960s counterculture.

Like a news report where wreckage and corpses tell the tale of a storm, we see the man's life through the effect he had on those closest to him.

This angle cuts through the myth. Leary's electric obsession sucks woman after woman into his world. He casts them aside or they leave him, but not until his ravenous ego has eaten its fill. Through the destruction of the women who loved him we see the destruction of a man who dared to climb Olympus.

The performers handle their roles with subdued sensitivity, but the impact of the script is never truly delivered. The production remains hollow, and not because of Leary's absence. Although the frail presence of his wives has a haunting quality, there's not quite enough personality to go around and truly engage the audience. The characters run through a huge range of emotions—from fiery belief, through obsession, to abject despair—but the audience never quite does.

In the end, it's Leary's ghost that fills the vacuum and steals the show, much like during his lifetime.