Hamlet/The Furies

Two Epic Stories. One Unforgettable Night.

Something is rotten in Denmark, in Argos… and in the United States of America.

This spring, Irondale presents Hamlet/The Furies, a bold two-act theatrical event that brings together William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Furies, drawn from Aeschylus’s Oresteia, in a single, continuous evening. Performed by the Irondale ensemble and directed by Irondale co-founder Jim Niesen, these ancient stories collide to illuminate the present moment—one marked by contested power, fragile institutions, and an urgent hunger for justice.

Rather than treating these works as historical artifacts, Irondale uses them as living source material—cautionary tales that echo uncomfortably close to home. Written more than 2,000 years apart, Hamlet and The Furies are woven together to examine what happens when systems meant to protect society begin to fail, and when the line between justice and revenge becomes dangerously blurred.

“These plays aren’t about the past—they’re about patterns we keep repeating.”— Jim Niesen, Director

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Act I: Hamlet

Shakespeare’s tragedy pulls us into the intimate reckoning of a son carrying the weight of a crime he did not commit. Trapped between moral clarity and decisive action, Hamlet navigates a world already coming apart—a world where corruption is normalized, truth is slippery, and doing “the right thing” carries devastating consequences.

Act II: The Furies

The scope widens from one family to an entire society. In The Furies, Irondale stages the pivotal moment when justice shifts from personal vengeance to a civic legal system. But this transition is not presented as a clean victory. Instead, it reveals a troubling handoff of power—one shaped by pressure, persuasion, and unequal voices—raising unsettling questions about whose lives are protected, whose are sacrificed, and whether justice has truly been achieved or merely managed.

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Hamlet/The Furies continues Irondale’s legacy of research-based, ensemble-driven theater—staging a conversation between eras and inviting audiences into a single night that treats the past as a warning, the present as a reckoning, and the future as an open, unsettled question.

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