Equivocation: Tony Award winner Garry Hynes to direct

Tony Award winner Garry Hynes will direct the New York premiere of Bill Cain�s Equivocation which is a part of Manhattan Theatre Club�s upcoming 2009-2010 Off-Broadway season at New York City Center � Stage I.

The limited engagement will open at MTC�s New York City Center � Stage I on 2 Mar 2010, following previews from 9 Feb 2010.

Hynes returns to MTC after directing the theatre�s Tony-nominated production of Brian Friel�s 'Translations.' She made history by becoming the first woman to win a Tony for direction of a play for 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane.' Her other directing credits include 'The Cripple of Inishmaan,' 'The Lonesome West, 'and 'DruidSynge,' the acclaimed production of the collected works of John Millington Synge mounted by the Irish Druid Theatre, for which Hynes also serves as artistic director.

Equivocation A new play set in 1605 England begins when King James� right hand man commissions Shakespeare to write a play about the Gunpowder Plot, a recent failed attempt to blow up Parliament and the Monarchy. The Bard replies, �I write histories, not current events.� Coerced by his own company to appease the government and write the play, Shakespeare embarks upon an investigation that uncovers unexpected lies and threats, deceits and dangers.

Casting and the creative team for Equivocation will be announced in the coming weeks.

Equivocation received its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, under the direction of artistic director Bill Rauch. The play was developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and TheatreWorks in Palo Alto.

Bill Cain's (Playwright) widely-produced play 'Stand-Up Tragedy' earned six LA Critics Awards in its premiere at the Mark Taper Forum. 'Stand Up' later garnered four Helen Hayes Awards at Arena Stage in Washington, DC before its 1990 Broadway engagement, where it received the Joe A. Callaway Playwriting Award.

Cain wrote the television adaptation of the play for TNT, under the title 'Thicker Than Blood' (Writers� Guild nomination). He is the recipient of a George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Achievement in Television for the series 'Nothing Sacred,' which he co-created, wrote and produced for ABC. He wrote the critically acclaimed screen adaptation of 'Nightjohn' for Hallmark/Touchstone, which was named best American film of the year by The New Yorker and given a special citation for excellence by the National Society of Film Critics. He is the founder of the Boston Shakespeare Company, where he was Artistic Director for seven seasons.