QUICK TAKES - April 2, 2009

The Geffen Playhouse has picked “Equivocation,” by Bill Cain, a Jesuit priest-cum-playwright, to fill the remaining slot in its 2009-10 season. It’s a piece of speculative historical fiction, set in London of 1606, with a complicated premise involving a foiled plot to blow up King James and Parliament.

Cain is on the theatrical comeback trail after having scored a lone hit 20 years ago at the Mark Taper Forum with “Stand-Up Tragedy.” “Equivocation” will have its world premiere April 15 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The Geffen is mounting its own production with a different cast and director, Nov. 18-Dec. 20.

-- Mike Boehm