Lightning Rod Theatre Reimagines History in Hamlet in the American Revolution

A World-Premiere Theatre Event

This week, Lightning Rod Theater opens the world premiere of Hamlet in the American Revolution, Paul Hoan Zeidler’s historical mashup of Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the committee drafting the Declaration of Independence wrote a nation into existence, drawing inspiration from Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and George Mason. Yet on nearly every bookshelf across the 13 Colonies sat another essential text: the plays of William Shakespeare. Now, audiences are invited to experience a dynamic new production where the struggle for American independence is reimagined through the lens of Shakespeare’s most iconic tragedy. Written by William Shakespeare and adapted and directed by Paul Hoan Zeidler, Hamlet in the American Revolution opens October 24th and runs through November 22nd at the McCadden Place Theatre in Hollywood. Find tickets HERE.

Revolution at Elsinore

Set in 1776, the production finds revolutionary fervor sweeping across both sides of the Atlantic, even as Denmark remains shadowed by secrets. In this reimagining, the ghost of Hamlet’s father charges the young prince not only with avenging his murder, but with bringing democracy to the realm. Meanwhile, Fortinbras, an escaped slave, leads a rebellion against the monarchy; a fiery young Ophelia joins the insurrection, meeting her fate on the barricades; and Horatio is reimagined as an Enlightenment woman of science. As Claudius, Polonius, and Gertrude write off Hamlet’s passion for liberty as madness, the words of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Phillis Wheatley, and Thomas Paine echo through Elsinore, posing a provocative question: was Shakespeare America’s secret Founding Father?

Seventeen Years in the Making

“It’s been a 17-year process of research, exploration, and readings to bring Hamlet in the American Revolution to the stage,” says playwright Paul Hoan Zeidler. “I had the first inkling of how spectacularly this might work when we placed the text from the Declaration of Independence—’life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’—into the scene where Polonius questions Hamlet to see if he’s gone mad. The rhythms of 18th-century prose dovetailed so seamlessly with Shakespeare’s blank verse that I knew we had to mount the show.”

Cast and Creative Team

The ensemble cast features Alec Anderson-Carrasco, Colin A. Borden, Ted Dane, Bethany Koulias, Rachel Levy, Ashwath Ram, Jordyn Ryan, Brittany Taylor Visser, Terry Wayne Jr., Kyrsten V. Williams, and Peter Zizzo.

The production’s creative team includes Matt Richter (Lighting Design), Michael Mullen (Costume Design), Joyce Hutter (Scenic Design), Jaime Robledo (Sound Design), Jen Albert (Fight Choreography), and Judi Lewin (Wigs).

Behind Lightning Rod Theater

Executive Producer and Lightning Rod Theater co-founder Charles Pacello is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy who trained at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles and attended the Shakespeare intensive workshop at Oxford, England. His Los Angeles stage credits include We Got Your Six (Vols. 1 & 2), Glennie & Maple Break Up, Acts of Possession, and Time’s Scream and Hurry (L.A. and New York Fringe) with Lightning Rod Theater, as well as productions of Waiting for Godot, Hamlet, One Fell Swoop, and In Arabia and We’d All Be Kings.

Director, Producer, and Script Adapter Paul Hoan Zeidler is also a co-founder of Lightning Rod Theater and a graduate of the University of Southern California. His previous full-length plays include Time’s Scream and Hurry, WOOF-WOOF (Hollywood Fringe Encore Producers Award winner and Spirit of the Fringe nominee), and Nude/Naked (Stanley Drama Award finalist and Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference semifinalist), which earned Stage Raw nominations and critics’ top ten selections. Zeidler also adapted, wrote, and directed Lightning Rod Theater’s veteran outreach productions, We Got Your Six (Vol. 1) in 2022 and We Got Your Six (Vol. 2) at the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival.