Shagspeare on stage at Shakespeare Theatre

For over 20 seasons now, some two decades, audiences of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey have been watching company vet James Michael Reilly in a variety of supporting and featured roles. \

Soft-voiced and balding, he’s a versatile, dependable actor, specializing in decent everymen like the sheriff in “To Kill A Mockingbird” and the kindly editor in “Our Town.” But Reilly can do comedy too, employing his tall, lanky frame to uproarious effect. These are the showy, over-the-top parts like Masha’s stodgy husband in “Three Sisters,” the hilariously hypocritical Anabaptist in “The Alchemist” and the self-important duke in “A Comedy of Errors.” He also provided a memorable Bottom in a holiday-themed “A Midwinter’s Night’s Dream.”

So it’s fitting and more than merely poetic justice that Reilly should finally take center stage as the lead in The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s current production of “Equivocation” as — who else? — William Shakespeare. He’s certainly up to the challenge.

Actually, in Bill Cain’s complex, ambitious play, the Bard is referred to as “Shagspeare” or Shag for short, a nod toward the fact that Shakespeare’s name was spelled and probably pronounced multiple ways.

Indeed, “Equivocation” is packed with so many interesting ideas, it’s difficult to know where to begin. The title, which references Henry Garnet’s “A Treatise of Equivocation,” is defined as a desperate effort to speak the truth in difficult times. Garnet was a Jesuit implicated in the famous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in which, supposedly, a group of English Catholics plotted to blow up King James I (himself, a Protestant Scot) as he addressed the House of Lords.

The plot was uncovered by Robert Cecil, James’ spymaster and right hand man and those conspirators who were not killed by soldiers were later executed, brutally hanged, drawn and quartered. Today, the triumph over the plotters is celebrated annually with bonfires and fireworks in the U.K. on Nov. 5, Guy Fawkes Night.

“Equivocation” is organized around the conceit that Shakespeare was corralled by Cecil to write a propaganda piece presenting the official government version of the event. After doing a little detective work, however, Shag realizes that the story is more complicated than in generally known and he decides to “equivocate” by creating “Macbeth” instead. Not only is James I a descendent of the noble Banquo, but the king really likes plays with witches.

This is not as far-fetched a fantasy as it may sound. A number of scholars have pointed out various allusions within “Macbeth” to the Gunpowder Plot, including the Porter who welcomes a great “equivocator” (presumably Father Garnet) into hell.

Cain, who is, incidentally a Jesuit himself, is well-read in both literature and history, and he throws just about every academic theory, gossip and rumor that he’s collected into the stew. As an audience member, the more you know about Shakespeare, English history and Jesuit thinking, the more you will enjoy it.

When we first meet Shag and his crew, they are rehearsing his latest endeavor which one player declares “unplayable,” and describes in disgust as “an experimental drama about an insane king running around in his underwear.” Several characters point out that Shag always kills off his main characters and his own daughter, the sad and cynical Judith (a sturdy Therese Barbato) actually estimates the body count as 2,987, not including the armies.

When Shag is stumped for a plot device, he’s encouraged “to try twins; that usually works.” Clever in-jokes like these occur frequently, even though Cain’s ultimate concerns are far more serious and philosophical.

Except for Shag and his daughter, like Shakespeare’s own company, “The King’s Men,” the remaining actors take on multiple roles, sometimes switching not only within a scene but between lines of dialogue. Rob Krakovski is robust as Richard Burbage, the company’s leading player, but he’s also superb as Father Garnet.

Equally brilliant is Dominic Comperatore who manages to make the sinister hunchbacked Cecil far more than a moustache twirling villain. Kevin Isola and Matthew Stucky fill in as the funniest and most heart-breaking characters with everyone swirling around and through Michael Schweikhardt’s set that suggests the Globe Theater.

The dependable Paul Mullins directs the fast and furious action and somehow keeps everyone and everything straight. After this effort, he deserves a vacation.

EQUIVOCATION

WHEN: Through Oct. 4

WHERE: The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave., Madison

TICKETS: $15 to $62

INFO: 973-408-5600 or www.shakespearenj.org