“Equivocation,” a Spreckels Performing Arts production onstage in Rohnert Park, is a seriocomedy with endless levels and disparate themes, all of which are delightfully exceptional.
In its 2¾-hour running time, there are repeated examples of equivocation by circa 1605 Shakespearean-style characters, both whimsically and seriously drawn by playwright Bill Cain.
It’s a fictional history detailing King James I’s Machiavellian right-hand man, Robert Cecil (played sneeringly evil by Zane Walters), who’s pitted against poor, mostly ethical actors.
Cecil commissions Shag-speare, or Shag (skillfully portrayed by Jereme Anglin) in the name of the Scottish king to write a play about the recently foiled Gunpowder Plot by 13 Catholic terrorists-liberators aiming to blow up parliament and kill the king.
Shag is reluctant to complete the assignment at first, musing about whether the basis for the play is a coverup, or pure propaganda. And maybe there wasn’t a plot, or gunpowder at all. Besides, he says, “We don’t do current events. We do histories, true histories of the past.”
Given a choice between emphasizing Cain’s side-splitting, droll comedy or a touching, morally explorative melodrama-thriller, “Equivocation” director Sheri Lee Miller often opts for slapstick. There’s abundant histrionics in the play-within-a-play conceit.
The Globe Theater actors frequently break time barriers and worm their way into “real-life” philosophical discourse as the play introduces heavy concepts:
• Whether to risk actors’ lives by telling the truth or to massage a lie that will result in a big payday — or to deceptively offer truth and lie at the same time
• Whether Catholicism or Protestantism is the “right” religion
• Whether torture and execution are better solutions than diplomacy
• Whether a writer should answer yes or no questions with a single word or convoluted paragraphs that obfuscate meaning
While “Equivocation” provides intellectual fodder for those desiring it (with references to “the Scottish play,” “King Lear” and “Richard III,” there’s more than sufficient silliness for those hoping to laugh, particularly in scenes with three witches and mirrors.
Cain tosses in the kitchen sink via philosophical questions galore (at times repetitious, other times so complex, they’re nearly impossible to follow) and avoids answering most. However, the play becomes more easily digestible with actors in street dress and using street lingo, and profanity, when not “in character.”
The six-member ensemble cast is superb. Jeff Coté plays multiple roles, and Natalie Tichenor, the sole woman, is appropriately low-key as Judith, the Bard’s daughter who can never quite meet standards set by her dead twin brother. She’s rather quiet until she delivers a poignant soliloquy toward the play’s end.
Kevin Bordi, who appears as Father Henry Garnet and Richard, also is choreographer of an amazingly authentic fight scene. Intricate colorful costumes by Adriana Gutierrez instantly yank theatergoers back multiple centuries. English accents are absent, but Drew Bolander’s high-pitched Scottish inflections are spectacularly amusing.
Torture, hangings and beheadings in “Equivocation,” which debuted in Ashland, Oregon in 2009, might be disturbing and perhaps draw a gasp. Frequent time changes may also be distressing.
However, theatergoers at a recent weekend matinee were smiling through most of the performance and jumped to their feet when it ended.
While audiences many not instantly “get” all aspects of “Equivocation,” or perhaps get trace of fanny fatigue toward the end, they’re almost sure to enjoy being transported back to Elizabethan times. And to laugh. A lot.
“Equivocation” continues through Sept. 13 in Bette Condiotti Experimental Theater, Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. Tickets are $25 to $39 at spreckelsonline.com.
Woody Weingarten can be contacted at voodee@sbcglobal.net, https://woodyweingarten.com or https://vitalitypress.com.