What if England's dirtiest politician hired William Shakespeare as his spin doctor?
As the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, 2016 is being heralded around the world with a variety of festivals and staged productions. According to a news release, The Actors Theatre Playhouse will celebrate the Bard with staged readings of Bill Cain's contemporary “what-if” drama “Equivocation” on two Saturdays, July 9 and 16, at 7:30 p.m.
The year 1609 proved to be a momentous one. It was near the end of William Shakespeare's career as he finished “King Lear” and began work on “Macbeth,” two of his most important plays. Cain sets “Equivocation” in that dangerous moment for both country and author, when a new king and the celebrated playwright were both striking out in new directions - one to unite a divided empire, the other to create a new kind of theatrical experience.
At its heart, “Equivocation” is a clever work of historical fiction, according to the news release. William Shakespeare (known here as Shagspeare or just Shag to his friends) is commissioned by an old enemy, the king's man Sir Robert Cecil, to write a play about the recently foiled assassination attempt known as the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.
While attempting to stage a disjointed new work called “King Lear,” Shag and his troupe of actors - who are also his business partners and dearest friends - have trouble turning the straightforward Gunpowder Plot into an workable play. So they set out to clarify some confusing details of the attempted treason. Their hunt for an interesting plot line quickly becomes a life-threatening search for the truth.
As Shag delves further into Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, he uncovers a true sense of his life's work and the value of the family he thought he left behind.
Bob Gruen as Shagspeare is joined by Nell Curley as his daughter Judith, Roy Mahoney, Colin Grube, Kirk Winchester are his actors, and Peter Eisenstadter is Sir Robert Cecil. The reading is directed by Sam Pilo.