Our American Hamlet

The time was 1866, less than a year after President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. His brother Edwin Booth, one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the 19th century, decided to perform Hamlet on Broadway, a role he had performed in the past to great acclaim. A huge crowd turned up for the performance — but it wasn’t clear whether they were there to see the actor perform or to exact their revenge.

Jacob Fishel, an actor with a wide-ranging career on television as well as on and off-Broadway, takes on the role of Booth.