Equivocation OFF-BROADWAY REVIEWS

• NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF Equivocation

  

  If He Can, Above All, to His Own Self Be True

  Charles Isherwood

  March 3, 2010: What if Shakespeare had never written “Macbeth”? Well, looking on the bright side, many would have escaped the plague of bad luck that ostensibly attends productions of “the Scottish play,” as it is referred to by theatrical folk to keep the fabled ill fortune at bay. And I suspect that Kelsey Grammer and Alec Baldwin, to name just two fine actors who have belly-flopped in the title role in New York, could warm to a fantasy of the Scottish play being scotched at birth, as it were.

  READ THE REVIEW

• BACKSTAGE REVIEW OF Equivocation

  

  Equivocation

  David Sheward

  March 2, 2010: Playwright Bill Cain risks a pack of bad luck by extensively quoting the Scottish play in "Equivocation," a rambling, mixed bag of a play. It's an ambitious piece, and the author deserves credit for tackling some deep themes, but there's too much going on and it's told in such a confusing manner, I don't have to equivocate: The verdict is thumbs down.

  READ THE REVIEW

• NY1 REVIEW OF Equivocation

  

  NY1 Theater Review: "Equivocation"

  David Cote

  March 10, 2010: Any theater person will tell you to never, ever refer to “Macbeth” in a theater. If you quote 'the Scottish play' it’s bad luck; the tragedy is cursed. So the cast and crew of Bill Cain’s smart if overstuffed "Equivocation" are probably on guard as their play speculates on how and why Shakespeare wrote you know what.

  READ THE REVIEW

• THE NEW YORK OBSERVER REVIEW OF Equivocation

  

  A Beautiful Tempest. Plus: Equivocation in Midtown

  Jesse Oxfeld

  March 3, 2010: The Bridge Project was founded last year to mount productions of classical theater with top-flight Anglo-American casts under the direction of Sam Mendes. It does that, certainly, and does it well, but perhaps the most notable element of a Bridge Project effort is the stunning production design. Shakespeare’s The Tempest—which opened last week at the BAM Harvey Theater, where it is now playing in repertory with this season’s other Bridge play, As You Like It—is no exception: It is beautiful.

  READ THE REVIEW

• TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEW OF Equivocation

  

  A smart but overreaching new play speculates on the creation of Macbeth. Read more: http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/theater/83460/equivocation-at-manhattan-theatre-club-theater-review#ixzz0iY8MNqN6

  David Cote

  March 11, 2010: It’s a universal superstition among the greasepaint set: Never, ever, say “Macbeth.” Don’t recite any of the tragedy’s lines. Because if you quote Macbe—sorry, “the Scottish Play,” you doom your own production to bad luck—from falling scenery to onstage heart attacks. See, that play about the regicidal Thane of Cawdor is cursed. Accordingly, the cast and crew of Bill Cain’s sharp-witted if overstuffed Equivocation are probably on guard: Their comedy-drama speculates on how and why Shakespeare wrote you-know-what.

  READ THE REVIEW