Theatre Worker
Hey everyone! So there’s this play called Fat Ham and it’s kinda like a modern twist on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The cool part? It snagged the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was up for five whole Tony Awards, including Best Play.
The main character is Juicy, a young queer black guy who’s chilling at a cookout down in the American South when — get this — his dad’s ghost shows up. Typical ghost stuff, it wants Juicy to get revenge for its murder. Now, Juicy knows all about Hamlet’s mess, but he’s not down to repeat history. Instead, he’s all about breaking free from all that trauma and violence.
This gem hit the stage for the first time on April 23, 2021, at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater. But the party really started when it made its way off-Broadway to The Public Theater on May 12, 2022, and peeps loved it. Fast forward to 2023, and bam! It’s on Broadway with the same kickass cast and most of the creative geniuses behind the scenes.
Fat Ham takes Shakespeare’s epic story and totally flips it, making a wild ride that pokes fun at all that tough guy nonsense while still keeping it real with the heavy stuff. It’s like a proof of Ijames’s talent for creating whole new worlds that are as deep as they are hilarious. It’s a rollercoaster of tragedy and joy that’ll keep you laughing while it hits you in the feels.