The most dazzling of the current plays is "Equivocation" by American playwright Bill Cain. The focus is on the 1605 Gunpowder Plot against Protestant King James I and Parliament, and on Shakespeare, who in the play has been asked by James court to revise a drama about the failed Plot written by the King himself. Shakespeare is given two weeks to produce the work, which is to be acted by his company, The Kings Men. The dilemmas are many because Shakespeare (a vibrant Anthony Heald) wants a true play that will not lose him the Kings favor.
The title "Equivocation" refers to the Jesuit manner of handling interrogations by the Protestant judges of the time, which might be defined as the practice of heavily veiled lying.
There are a dizzying number of characters, actors, courtiers, conspirators and all-round bounders, but thanks to OSF artistic director Bill Rauch's staging there is precision and great pacing and nothing of the elegant (and sometimes less than elegant) language is lost.
Remarkable performances are given by Heald and the four actors (John Tufts, Gregory Linington, Richard Elmore and Jonathan Haugen) who handle all the other roles, particularly Haugen as Sir Robert Cecil and Elmore as Jesuit father Garnet. In the end the decision is made to give up on the problem play and stage "Macbeth" instead, focusing on a Scottish rather than an English king and so assuring Shakespeare a lucrative future.
Christine Albright is a vivid presence as Shakespeare's daughter Judith, a telling element, since Shakespeare was apparently plagued by his relationship with his daughters and worked some of those issues into three of his late plays.
"Equivocation" is packed with history and theater lore, and although we know no more about the failed Plot at plays end, we know quite a bit more about Shakespeare.