Equivocation: Truth, Near-Truth and Staying Alive in 1605 Thoughtful Boys at The Barn

Marin Theatre Company did a good thing for itself last fall when it booked Equivocation for this season. Bill Cain’s year-old play continues to rack up awards, most recently the 2010 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award with a subsequent $25,000 cash prize. Local buzz about it has created an extraordinary demand for tickets and two extensions of the closing date, now set for May 2.

Equivocation’s central character is William Shakespeare, called Will Shagspeare in the script, but this is not your father’s Shakespeare. This is a businessman trying to maintain his life and his livelihood in tumultuous times. Queen Elizabeth has died, and the nation has a new monarch, James I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth is said to have had executed. Since James is the closest thing Elizabeth has to an heir, the Scottish king, born of a Catholic mother, has taken her throne. This change of monarch brings Catholic-Protestant rivalries bubbling to the surface again and destabilizes the established social order.

One sign of the tumult is the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a supposed attempt by Catholic rebels to blow up Parliament along with the king and his family. On behalf of the King, “Shagspeare” is approached by a scheming Robert Cecil to write a play about it, telling him, “Your works last . . . and you do it all with a straight face.”

The playwright’s business partners in the Globe Theatre, the King’s Men theatrical company, resist any works about current events because audiences want their actors to be heroes. Still, the powerful Cecil has ordered it, so a script begins to take shape and to go through preliminary rehearsals, but Shagspeare finds blank spaces in this Gunpowder Plot story. If the tunnel was constructed, how did these gentleman diggers get rid of the dirt? Who brought timbers to shore up the tunnel? Where did the plotters find so much gunpowder? And was Fr. Garnet, a Jesuit priest, one of the masterminds of the plot? (Playwright Cain is himself a Jesuit priest.) Interviews with two of the imprisoned plotters only deepen the mystery. All this happens in the first act.

But the second act of the play vaults ahead with a dizzying succession of plot lines, for Equivocation has three more stories to tell: exploring the difference between truth and “truthiness;” mending Shagspeare’s strained relationship with his daughter, Judith; restoring unity among the quarreling King’s Men, and defending against Cecil’s hunger for power with the new King. The King, it turns out, will be appeased with a new, Scottish play, Macbeth, featuring James’ favorite characters, witches. But the demands of so many stories results in almost three hours of multiple endings and no single big finish. “Confusing” was an overheard comment.

MTC’s Artistic Director, Jasson Minadakis, has directed this fast-paced production with exquisite timing and attention to detail. J.B. Wilson’s skeletal set mimics the contours of The Globe and “the path between the Globe and the Tower” that Bill Cain describes in his program notes. Fumiko Bielefeldt’s costumes span the centuries, as the play’s theme intends. And the actors, all of them Equity members, are superb.

As Shagspeare, Charles Shaw Robinson, is beleaguered, middle-aged, and still grieving for his dead son, Hamnet. His daughter Judith (Anna Bullard) is sturdily loyal, while still accepting her less-favored state. The King’s Men, played by Andrew Hurteau, Craig Marker, Lance Gardner and Andy Murray, provide the play’s movement, athleticism, accents and characters. And let’s also reserve applause for dialect coach Deborah Sussel, who can turn any of them into Scotsmen at the drop of a cue.

Equivocation will play at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley through May 2. Evening performances are at 8:00 Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Wednesdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 7:00. Matinees are every Sunday at 2:00 and Saturday April 17 and 24 at 2:00 also. For additional information or for reservations, contact the box office, 388-5208, or see www.marintheatre.org.

The Boys Next Door are not boys at all, except in the developmental sense. Take Arnold, for one. Arnold is nervous from his extravagant shopping trip, but then, Arnold gets nervous a lot. Lucien, his roommate, rejoices in a new library card with his name on it; he has already checked out several old yearbooks from the Dept. of Agriculture. Norman and Barry, two more housemates, are behaving suspiciously. Norman is hiding a boxy shape under his shirt, and Barry is offering golf lessons to a neighbor. The big question is for all is, will Jack be mad?

Jack is the social worker who supervises their group home. Though kind and even affectionate to the “boys,” Jack tells the audience that he’s getting burnt out on this job because “They never change.” So Arnold will now have to return all his purchases to Livingston’s Market because he’s already been told that Livingston’s “takes advantage.” Lucien, who -- in a later, remarkable monologue -- assesses his own mental capacity at “between five years old and an oyster” will use his library books as furniture. Norman, who has achieved a job in a donut shop, is putting on far too much weight from the store’s product. And Barry, the most seriously ill among them, won’t abandon his protective armor of golf pro.

There is humor in this play, but The Boys Next Door does not take cheap shots for laughs. Tom Griffin’s 1987 play treats his characters with a full count of humanity, and The Boys’ director, Kim Bromley, has kept this Ross Valley Players’ production consistent with the time it was written. That’s important, says Bromley, because “retarded” has since become a pejorative term, but in its original meaning, “slowed, hindered, impaired,” the word can be applied to all the play’s characters, even Jack, about whom we know little.

The time-appropriate set with its ‘80s décor and furnishings was designed by RVP veteran designer, Ken Rowland, who now submits his designs from North Carolina. Billie Cox has assembled “oldies” musical intervals, Michael Berg designed the costumes, and Linda Dunn found or invented suitable props. (Watch what comes out of the shopping bags.)

There are some wonderful scenes in this production. A nighttime rat hunt with flashlights is almost too realistic. An arranged dance with residents of a women’s group home, ends in a fine, romantic flourish. Lucien’s hearing at Health and Human Services, for which he has costumed carefully, reveals his integral dignity.

Their story is, as the play says, “all about behavior patterns.”

The actors present a fine piece of ensemble work. Wendell Wilson’s Lucien is both tender and vulnerable. David Yen plays the nervous, obsessive Arnold. Brook Robinson is Barry, the fantasy golf pro, with Josh List as the sweetly innocent donut aficionado, Norman. Jack, their tightly-controlled supervisor, is played by Timothy Beagley. Rod Bogart takes on three roles as other male characters, and Jeff Garrett portrays the menacing Mr. Klemper, Barry’s father.

Monique Sims of Tiburon is Sheila, Norman’s love interest. (Norman’s lavishly-decorated birthday present contains just what Sheila’s always wanted.) Candace Brown plays The Boys’ three other female characters.

The Boys Next Door will be at The Barn Theatre in the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross through April 18. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $15 to $25. For reservations, call 456-9555 or see www.rossvalleyplayers.com.