BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Shakespeare Company is staging its first tragedy with an upcoming production of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet: Prince of Denmark."

Directed by LSC Executive and Artistic Director Jennifer Bouquet, the show runs Sept. 11-13 and 18-19 at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.

The production follows Prince Hamlet, who returns to Denmark after his father's death to find his mother, Queen Gertrude, has married his uncle Claudius, who now sits on the throne. When the ghost of Hamlet's father appears and accuses Claudius of murder, Hamlet sets out to uncover the truth, setting off a chain of events that puts everyone in the royal court at risk.

"Hamlet is timeless," Jennifer Bouquet said. "There is something in it for everyone, something that each of us can resonate with and see a part of ourselves in these characters."

The production also marks the first time LSC is bringing sword combat to the stage. "It's the first time we are bringing swords onto the stage and the final fight of the show will be epic," Bouquet said.

"Hamlet is arguably the most studied of all Shakespeare's tragedies and we are highly aware that there are lots of versions and opinions of Hamlet," Bouquet said. "We have made sure that we are taking care of our audiences while also staying true to the story and telling it in a suspenseful and action packed way."

Louis Mangiaracina stars as Hamlet, with Julie Roundtree as Queen Gertrude, Travis Daigle as King Claudius, Antoni Amina Rogers as Ophelia, Chase Bernard as Laertes and Chris Dalton as Polonius. The cast also includes Devin Bureau, Ella Simon, Gray Armond, Aubrey Wesley, Buck Patton, Mary-Beth Blanchard-Loftin and Shauna Fahad.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, 12, 18 and 19 and at 2 p.m. on Sept. 13. Doors open 30 minutes before each performance.

The show takes place at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge at 233 St. Ferdinand St. Tickets are $30 and are available at lashakes.org.