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After playing some of theater's most famous roles, actor Joe Spano takes on the role of theater's most famous scribe: William Shakespeare. Spano, best known for his roles on television's NCIS and Hill Street Blues, portrays Shakespeare (fondly called ‘Shag' after playwright Bill Cain's favorite contemporary spelling of the Bard's name: ‘Shagspeare' or ‘Shagespeare') in the Los Angeles premiere of Equivocation. Spano is joined by two-time Tony Award nominee Harry Groener as Richard, the second in command of Shag's winsome acting troupe, as well as Patrick J. Adams, Brian Henderson and Connor Trinneer, who comprise the rest of Shag's theater company - Sharpe, Armin and Nate, respectively. That said, as Equivocation's tale unwinds onstage, the actors ultimately play about two dozen roles ranging from conspirators and priests to Lady Macbeth and King Lear. The cast also features Troian Bellisario as Judith, Shakespeare's omnipresent daughter.
Equivocation, helmed by David Esbjornson, tells the story of how King James commissions Shakespeare to write the "true history" of England's infamous Gunpowder Plot. Yet, as Shag and his troupe begin researching the King's project, they find far more fiction than fact. With the weight of history on their shoulders, the actors struggle to dramatize the King's absurd account without losing their integrity - or their heads. With unmistakable contemporary parallels, Equivocation is a complex play that is both relevant and classic, thrilling and funny, realistic and theatrical.
Equivocation was a recipient of the 2008 Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award for its world premiere production, and in addition, was awarded a special grant from The Edgerton Foundation for two extra weeks of rehearsal for the Geffen Playhouse run. The play, which had its world premiere at the 2009 Oregon Shakespeare Festival, was originally developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and was part of the New Works Festival at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California.
Opening night is November 18th. Tickets ($35 to $75) are on sale now at the Geffen Playhouse box office, online at GeffenPlayhouse.com, via credit card phone order at (310) 208-5454, at all Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Student rush tickets are available one hour prior to curtain for $15.
