Courtesy of Depict.ca
“Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot.”
This classic verse refers to a 1605 event in English history during which a group of Catholic rebels conspired to blow up the House of Lords kill King James I of England a Protestant and put a Catholic monarch on the throne.
Guy Fawkes became the figurehead of the nefarious plot after he was captured — and sentenced to death — while guarding the gunpowder in a room right underneath the House of Lords. The Gunpowder Plot as history has named it is at the centre of Bill Cain’s play Equivocation up next at The Shakespeare Company.
Audiences meet “Shagspeare” and his troupe of actors just as the famed playwright has been commissioned to write a “true history” of the Gunpowder Plot for James I. But as Shagspeare delves deeper into the timeline of events he’s confronted with that eternal question all journalists and recorders of history face: “What is the truth?”
Director Kevin McKendrick describes Cain’s play as a political thriller and says its “contemporary relevance” won’t be lost on modern audiences a connection furthered by the production’s mix of contemporary and period costuming. Cain deals with such timeless themes as what governments know and don’t tell their people and how “truth” can adopt many complexions.
“What is the government doing with ISIS? What is CSIS really doing? Do we know the full truth? Often we get only one version of the truth and that’s what the word “equivocation” means: to play with the truth” says McKendrick.
According to history the government of early 17th century England looking for a scapegoat blamed the Jesuits for their role in the Gunpowder Plot. As the Jesuits took the confessions of the conspirators it’s likely they were aware of the plan well before anyone else. However because of the confidential nature of the confessional they couldn’t reveal what they knew.
McKendrick says Cain himself a Jesuit puts “a lot of doubt” into audiences’ minds as to whether the Jesuits should have done more to arrest the plot. He adds that Cain has also made sure to show both sides of the issue: the need for transparency from the authorities but also the need for national security peace and stability.
“When it comes to CSIS for example we want to retain our freedom but we also want to be protected by the government. How far do we want to go to give up our freedom? Where is the line?” asks McKendrick — and that question is on the minds of many today as the federal government debates Bill C-51.
Equivocation also deals with the danger sometimes associated with telling the truth. As Shagspeare delves deeper into discovering the “true history” of the Gunpowder Plot — in part through interviewing a couple of the accused — he discovers a key government minister may be in on the whole thing.
“How carefully do artists have to walk that tightrope of censorship in order to tell the truth? The playwright is in real danger as writing a play against the government could be punishable by death” says McKendrick adding that journalists today can face similar levels of danger.
Equivocation weaves between the “real-time” narrative and plays within plays. In total McKendrick says some 17 Shakespearean works are referenced through Cain’s “clever” use of speech. Unlike most Shakespeare Company plays Equivocation will take place in the intimate Lunchbox Theatre. “Much of the play is set in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in 1605. We want audiences to feel what the relationship with the artist would be in that space so we’re replicating the Globe Theatre. Audiences will be on three sides” says McKendrick.
History and thematics aside McKendrick calls Equivocation “a cracking good tale” that he hopes will both thrill and provoke audiences.
EQUIVOCATION runs until Saturday March 7 at Lunchbox Theatre.
