Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. But here’s the rub! Revenge doesn’t come easy to Juicy, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man in search of his own happiness and liberation. From an uproarious family cookout emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy. The deliciously funny, Pulitzer Prize-winning play from James Ijames and director Saheem Ali reinvents Shakespeare’s masterpiece.
“Fat Ham” is now opening on Broadway after its two-month run last summer at the Public Theater. It hasn’t changed much, but it’s better. It has the same design and stagecraft, but bigger and more elaborate to fit the larger Broadway stage; it presents the same actors, except their performances are crisper and more confident. It is essentially the same production, but I enjoyed it more on second viewing. That’s because I focused more on scenes like the one with the smiley balloon. Sure, “Fat Ham” won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the play is inspired by “Hamlet,” loosely adopting the plot and even using some verbatim soliloquys from Shakespeare’s tragedy. But I could forget about the expectations that were raised (and dashed) by these prestige signifiers the first time around, and now relish the silly, sexy and surreal moments that director Saheem Ali make pop in James Ijames’s raunchy, freewheeling comedy. Even the serious concerns, peeking out from beneath the playfulness, have more impact.
The play is a compact 95 minutes, but it’s as dense and thoughtful as it is light on its feet and irreverent. Tio (Chris Herbie Holland), a modern-day echo of Horatio, begins the play by trying to figure out if the world of porn is for him, and later delivers an extremely passionate soliloquy-when-high about the sexual pleasures of getting down with gingerbread men.
Digital Rush
Price: $39
Where: On the Today Tix app.
When: Released on a first-come, first-served basis every performance day at 9 AM.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Subject to availability.
2022 | Off-Broadway |
Public Theater Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
2023 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | James Ijames |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design of a Play | Mikaal Sulaiman |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Play | Fat Ham |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | John Gassner Award for New American Play | James Ijames |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Dominique Fawn Hill |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Saheem Ali |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Bradley King |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Nikki Crawford |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Fat Ham |
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