| Critic’s Corner: Equivocation |
| Sunday, December 06 2009 |
  How do you write a play, the playwright ponders, about a “Plot” when there is no plot? The playwright known as “Shag” (a/k/a William Shakespeare) receives a commission from Sir Robert Cecil – the henchman and power behind the throne of King James I, (who as King of Scotland has been made King of England upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I) – to write a play based on the draft of a play the King has written about the “Gunpowder Plot.” The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, was a scheme by a group of Roman Catholic restorationists to kill King James, his family and most of the British aristocracy by blowing up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. The plot was discovered as a result of an anonymous letter and the men behind it were captured, tortured and eventually executed. FYI: Its commemoration is still celebrated in Great Brittan and the Commonwealth as Guy Fawkes Day.  This is the story on which the plot of Equivocation turns. As Shag struggles to write a play in which nothing much happens – no explosions or plotters killed – we see him dealing with the Kings Men (the company of actors that make up the theatrical cooperative housed at The Globe Theatre); the machinations of Robert Cecil as he attempts to rid England of the Old Religion, and his own personal journey as he confronts his daughter, the death of his son and what it means to be the greatest playwright of his generation and for perhaps the next 50 years. It is at the intersection of these plays within a play that our playwright, Bill Cain, is at his most theatrical, most amusing, most enlightening and most successful. For, as was the custom of the day, the multitudinous men and women that inhabit these plots are played by only four actors. When they, as the actors and as the characters they inhabit, flash in and out of character and in and out of their various plots, commenting on themselves and their situations, a bolt of pure theatre flashes across the stage, galvanizing the audience.  Would that this frisson were the heart and soul of Equivocation. Equivocation is a long (two hours and forty-five minutes), dark examination of a particular moment in history seen through the eyes and conceit of a theatrical troupe. But it is a moment, as Shag proclaims over and over again, without a climax. So too is Equivocation. Because after so much time and energy and blood is spent on creating our Gunpowder Plot play, filled with sound and fury and conspiracy theories, the King’s Men decide at the eleventh hour to abandon it. They turn to a play Shag had discarded, but his daughter had prudently saved in a clothes hamper, by the name of Macbeth. It is presented. The King sees it, loves it – particularly the witches; Cecil is put in his place, and all’s well that sort of ends well, although no dancing is done nor any songs sung. David Esbjorson has mounted an excellent production, for which he also designed a unit set suggesting the Globe Theatre. Frances Kenny’s costumes capture the 16th and 17th century theatrical style of melding contemporary wardrobe with dashes of the period. Scott Zielinski’s lighting and Jon Gottlieb’s sound do a great deal to create atmosphere and tension without calling attention to themselves.  And the cast is superb: Joe Spano offers a contemporary take on a middle-aged Shakespeare, who like most writers is both confident and unsure of himself and his success. Troian Bellisario, (Judith Shakespeare) creates a strong, independent but loving daughter. And as far as our four Kings Men are concerned they, and all the characters they inhabit, are superb: Patrick J. Adams as Sharpe, Edgar Macduff, Tom Wintour and King James I; Harry Groener as Richard, King Lear, Macbeth and Father Garnet; Brian Henderson as Armin, Fool, Lady Macbeth, Robert Catesby and Sir Edward Coke; and Connor Trinneer as Nate, Kent, Banquo and the evil, gnarled hunchback with remarkable progeny, Sir Robert Cecil. -- Bolen High Performing Arts Editor/Critic At Large Equivocation: Produced by the Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave. Westwood Village, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Tuesday - Friday: 8 pm; Saturday: 3:00pm, 8:00pm; Sunday: 2:00pm, 7:00pm. Ends Dec. 20. Tickets ($35 to $75) are on sale now at the Geffen Playhouse box office (310) 208-5454, online at www.geffenplayhouse.com and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Student rush tickets are available one hour prior to curtain for $20. |
The story, the acting, and even the set was so mediocre I even put in a call to the Geffen Playhouse director to complain. Of all the great plays there are in the world, why they would choose this sleep-inducing story to stage is beyond me.
Save your time and money and skip it!