The Six Wives of Timothy Leary

There is nothing complex in the director’s approach to Philip de Gouveia’s play about the psychedelic counter-culture guru Timothy Leary and his wives. Simple stage set allows the actresses to creatively narrate their individual stories in the array of contexts – from the early fifties through the hippie era to the nineties. While Leary’s wives keep appearing on stage one after another, the blurred image of Leary as a passionate, charismatic and unbearable man emerges from the stories.

Clearly, the LSD advocate followed his famous words “Turn on, tune in, drop out” in his personal life. The actresses successfully portray six strikingly different women who were married, surprisingly, to the same man. What the piece does not have, though, is a compelling narrative from start to finish that would allow the built up and release of the dramatic tension.

Instead of ending on the ‘high’, the play closes with Leary’s wives attending his funeral and saying their goodbyes, which feels overly sentimental and leaves the painting of Leary slightly faded.