Tales of love and hate with the Shakespearean flair will appear on stage this month in “Timon of Athens” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Timon is a wealthy Athenian noble who responds to flattery by hosting banquets, giving gifts and bailing out his suitors. When his fortune runs out and his friends reject his pleas for help, he becomes an embittered recluse. And after seeing those who abandoned him suffer, he withdraws to die.

“Timon of Athens” may be a simple story about a generous and self-indulgent man driven to misanthropy by his fair-weather friends, but it produces an avalanche of philosophical questions: Does Timon deserve our compassion for shunning society and condemning/contaminating the very people he once called friends? Does he deserve to be punished for his vanity and ostentation or is he right to expect more from his parasitic friends? Watch and decide.

Performances for “Timon” will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 6:30 p.m. Sundays at The New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St. NE, in Atlanta.

Tickets range from $22 to $36. Previews tickets are $15 unless otherwise noted. Student and educators receive $5 off per price level per night except in the Balcony on Thursdays and Sundays. Military, seniors and groups of 10 or more receive $3 off tickets except in the Balcony on Thursdays and Sundays.

To buy tickets or for more information, visit www.shakespearetavern.com.