The Spreckels Theatre Company opens its 2026/27 season with playwright and Jesuit priest Bill Cain’s Equivocation, a nearly three-hour-long, alternate-history story that imagines a Shakespeare play that never was. The adult-themed and exceptionally violent show runs in the Condiotti Experimental Theatre at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park through Sept. 13.
Jereme Anglin plays Shagspeare (an alternate spelling of the Bard’s name) toward the end of his career, when he is approached by kingmaker Robert Cecil (Zane Walters) to write a propaganda play about the infamous Gunpowder Plot. Will he take the money or will he listen to his conscience? Thanks to his Cassandra-like daughter, Judith (Natalie Tichenor), the audience is never left in much doubt about his choice.
First things first. Drew Bolander is a devilishly talented actor who can go from the historically accurate sliminess of King James the First to the pious Thomas Wintour and back to the naive actor Sharpe within one scene and keep all the characters clear and interesting. If one wants to watch a master actor work, they should go see Bolander in this show.
Not that the rest of the cast are slouches in the acting department. Tichenor handles Judith with a depth the character wouldn’t normally have. Well-known local actors Zane Walters, Kevin Bordi and Jeff Coté give consistent supporting performances as a variety of characters. Bordi in particular is rock-solid as the priest Henry Garnet, who works as Shagspeare’s conscience.
Anglin could have used some of Bordi’s power on stage, as his quieter take on the character is often overpowered by the other actors.
Costumes by Adriana Gutierrez are beautifully lush if sometimes too much for a show that requires actors to shift characters onstage, and Eddy Hansen’s fairly straightforward set works perfectly to give just enough support without overshadowing the action.
The biggest issue with the show is the script itself. Marketed as a witty and fast-paced political thriller, but with pedantic sermons about truth in art and niche British history jokes, this script instead reads like a failed dissertation. The shift in the balance between church and state, powered by James I’s increased misogyny, was my thesis in college: Even I got lost (and occasionally bored) in the sheer academia of Equivocation.
Good acting and good production value can sometimes overcome a less-than-ideal script, but despite all the talent here, there was no way to save this show from its overcomplicated plot.
‘Equivocation’ runs through Sept. 13 in the Condiotti Experimental Theatre at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Ln., Rohnert Park. Fri–Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $25–$39. 707.588.3400. spreckelsonline.com.
