The First Embassy

Ronald Keaton is an award-winning actor/playwright, best known for creating and performing original one-person theatrical events that bring great figures and forgotten stories vividly to life. His solo productions – including Churchill, his original Appalachian drama Echo Holler, and the Irish-themed Teddy’s Last Ride – have earned strong audience response across the country for their emotional depth, historical grounding, and intimate storytelling style, as they reflect the vast experience of an actor in the business for over a half-century.

Now arrives his newest work, The First Embassy, as America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence. It explores the diplomatic mission of Benjamin Franklin, as he helps to secure the nation’s survival. It also shows us a softer side of the great man through his 16-year-old grandson, Temple. Through humor, humanity, and meticulous research, Keaton portrays the great man in France at the turning point of the Revolution – revealing the man behind the legend and the unique negotiations that changed history.

Specializing in solo narrative theatre, Keaton founded, along with Artistic Director Kurt Johns, SoloChicago Theatre Company. Its performances combine scholarship, character transformation, and direct audience connection – creating theatrical experiences that are both educational and deeply engaging. The First Embassy highlights Keaton’s signature blend of scholarship, humor, and human insight well-suited to regional theatres and cultural venues – all while focusing on ideas of legacy, redemption, and the enduring spark of the human spirit.