By John Lyle Belden

Equivocation, the use of language to say something without directly saying it, is a way of “telling the truth in difficult times,” according to the play “Equivocation” by Bill Cain, presented by Southbank Theatre Company, directed by Marcia Eppich-Harris.

In Cain’s drama, he takes actual historical events in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot of Nov. 5, 1605, and adds a fascinating “what-if?” – that King James I (target of the treason), through his advisor Sir Robert Cecil, commissioned William Shakespeare to write – adapting a prepared manuscript – a play on the “True Historie” of the event.

(The “Plot,” now remembered in the UK as Guy Fawkes Day, was to blow up the House of Lords while the King was in attendance for the opening of Parliament. An anonymous letter to one of the Lords warning him to stay away was given to Cecil, who showed it to James. Fawkes was not a principal conspirator but rather the “trigger man,” arrested before he could light the fuse on 36 barrels of powder. The cause behind this assassination attempt, which would have killed hundreds if not thousands, was the ongoing strife between England’s Catholics and the ruling Protestants.)

Shakespeare (Ronn Johnston) turns down the assignment, noting he only writes past events, legends and history, not current events. Cecil (J. Charles Weimer) insists, calling the playwright a master of “the art of cynical manipulation” whose works will outlive him by at least half a century. In this flattery, he could be describing himself, a man physically and ethically bent who helped put the former King of Scotland on the throne, and – especially as a bag of coins hits Shakespeare’s palm – one unwise to refuse.

“Shag,” as the Bard was then known, says he will bring it to his company, the King’s Men, a cooperative enterprise, for a vote. Veteran actor Richard Burbage (Dan Flahive), essentially the company leader, is at first reluctant but they could use the money. Actors Robert Armin (Joshua Matasovsky), Nate Field (Weimer), and young Richard Sharpe (Matthew Ball) readily agree.

In writing the King’s play, Shakespeare encounters a problem: In a story about something not happening, there is nothing interesting to put on the stage. While exploring the questions of what did happen, Shakespeare finds a bigger problem: The truth is not what was written on the pages given to him.

This leads to revealing interviews with alleged conspirators, Tom Wintour (Ball), awaiting execution, and Father Henry Garnet (Flahive), awaiting trial. Garnet was notable for his treatise on equivocation, which Shakespeare begs to better understand.

Also on hand is Shakespeare’s daughter, Judith (Abigail Wittenmyer), whose twin brother Hamnet (their father’s favorite) died in childhood. She lends assistance, though little appreciated, but will have her say.

In the shadow of the gallows, the Bard labors to bring forth a work of honesty that still keeps him off that scaffold. The results will still be remembered, many-times-fifty years later.

Johnston gives us a very human and relatable Shakespeare, exhibiting flashes of his genius along with his frustration at a nearly impossible and dangerous task, as well as his long overdue dealing with a personal struggle. The others flow back and forth smoothly between presenting The King’s Men in rehearsal and the men who serve the King at court. Flahive is masterful in his turns as the gruff master thespian and the clever yet doomed Jesuit priest. Ball also portrays the easily amused yet still intimidating King James, complete with Scottish accent. Wittenmyer makes a potentially overlooked character boldly stand out.

Along the way we sense how tensions then reflect questions now regarding freedom of expression, censorship, and expressing truth to power. These issues are as timeless and relevant, perhaps even more, than the works of the celebrated man at the center of the play.

There remain four more performances of “Equivocation,” Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 18-21, at Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42^nd St., Indianapolis (southwest corner of Butler University campus). Get information and tickets at southbanktheatre.org.