“Rodney Lee Rogers refers to Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth as the Brad Pitt of 19th century American theatre. Though not as infamous, his older brother, Edwin Booth, is more akin to Daniel Day-Lewis. The actor—argued by some to be the greatest American actor of the 19th century—specialized in tragedies, namely Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which he spent much of his life performing. PURE cofounder Rogers wrote and stars in The Tragedian, a one man show. He describes the writing process as a sort of editing/writing/DJing combination utilizing old letters and other historical documents to really get a sense of Edwin’s character. Particularly interesting are the parallels between his own life and his performances of Hamlet, and how they influenced each other as the years progressed. Peter Karapetkov directs.”

—Erica Jackson, Charleston City Paper