It seems nothing could be more different than Shakespeare and hip-hop, but maybe that's why the subjects make such a good pairing.

The hip-hop theatre piece Revenge of a King, being performed this weekend at the State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave., is a retelling of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, including a live DJ, dance, graffiti, spoken word and freestyle rhymes.

Director Steve Broadnax, professor in the School of Theatre, said the action of the piece is driven by the same themes in Shakespeare: death, sex and revenge.

"The basic dramatic action of Hamlet is about a dutiful revenge," he said, "We've set it in another time, but the action is from Hamlet."

Instead of being set in Denmark, the action happens on Denmark Avenue in New York City, and instead of using traditional character names, Hamlet becomes Hamilton and Ophelia becomes Afi Parker.

The famous "To be or not to be ... " soliloquy was translated into freestyle rhymes by the show's writer, Herb Newsome, Class of 2002.

After Broadnax was inspired by a Shakespeare adaptation he saw in 2002, he came to Newsome with the idea of an adaptation of Hamlet while both were enrolled in Penn State's graduate theatre program.

"I just thought, 'Hamlet would be a great opportunity for hip-hop theatre'," Broadnax said.

Broadnax added that he is glad he could bring the show to Penn State with the cooperation of the School of Theatre and the State Theatre downtown.

"We wanted the Penn State community to see what truly derived from Penn State," he said.

Joe Apfelbaum, programming manager of the State Theatre, said once Broadnax brought the idea to the theater, it didn't take much convincing to allow the performance.

"We just thought it was really cool, educational, cross-cultural and modern," Apfelbaum said.

Crystal Endsley, interim assistant director of the Paul Robeson Center and member of the cast, said she is glad the school can cooperate with State College.

"We're trying to build a bridge with the institution and the community," she said.

Her character, a radio station host, acts as the inner monologue of the lead female character.

"It's done to give voice to the women of color and tell what the lead female role is thinking," Endsley said.

She said working with the rest of the cast has been a great experience and the nature of the show has allowed the cast to truly make its mark on Revenge.

The first production of the show was in 2004 at the University of Arkansas and has since been performed five other times, once in a high school in the Bronx. Broadnax is making plans to tour South Africa with the current cast and perform in New York once again and San Diego.

Now, Broadnax and Newsome have dreams of Broadway for the production.