After the murder of his father, young aristocrat Hamlet (Campbell Scott) plots to have his stepfather, Claudius (Jamey Sheridan), punished for the crime while protecting his mother, Gertrude (Blair Brown), from her new husband. Meanwhile, Claudius' scheming adviser, Polonius (Roscoe Lee Browne), struggles with his son, Laertes (Roger Guenveur Smith), and increasingly psychotic daughter, Ophelia (LisaGay Hamilton). This adaptation transfers the action to the turn-of-the-century United States.