If you ever needed proof that Shakespeare stands the test of time, look no further than Fat Ham. The play by James Ijames is a profound riff on the Bard’s Hamlet set in the present day and, without apologies to the purists, it is a modern classic in its own right.
Instead of Denmark it’s set in North Carolina at a family barbecue, but let there be no mistake, something is indeed rotten here. Shakespeare was writing about the corrupt state of affairs which had led depressed Hamlet to contemplate suicide. Ijames re-imagines the tragic tale as a comedy or rather a dramedy led by Juicy, a young black gay man suffering his own depression brought on by his dysfunctional, homophobic family.
The names may have been changed but Ijames ingeniously matches both plot and characters. Juicy is visited by the ghost of his father who reveals that he was murdered by his own brother, Rev. He goes on to tell Juicy that he must avenge the murder and kill his uncle. And as in Hamlet, the plot thickens as we discover that Uncle Rev has just married Juicy’s mother, Tedra.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★★★ review here.]
In an interview, Ijames noted that in the South where he grew up, everyone’s walking around with trauma and pain. That pretty much sums up his characters in this adaptation. And it’s where the play takes a left turn. Unlike Hamlet, these folks are more introspective about their lives; and with self-awareness comes plenty of organic humor.
Juicy shares Hamlet’s confusion but he can no more resort to violence than he could change his sexuality. Despite all the insults and taunts from his father and uncle about his so-called “softness”, his defense is a witty comeback. Marcel Spears aces this role with a dry understated delivery. As complex as Hamlet, Juicy is also a self-proclaimed empath; and in the most subtle way, Spears commands the stage, drawing us into his every move and gesture.
Tio, Juicy’s cousin and close friend, is the alter ego of Shakespeare’s Horatio. When we first meet him he’s got his head buried in his phone watching porn. It’s comical but also revealing as he later spouts words of wisdom talking about choosing pleasure over harm. Chris Herbie Holland is terrific in the role, a seeming slacker who turns out to be a true 21st century Horatio helping to center Juicy, telling him he suffers from inherited trauma and “can’t let it define you”.
That trauma largely comes from Juicy’s bullying father “Pap” and his uncle “Rev.” Billy Eugene Jones takes on both roles, delivering portraits as perfectly seasoned as the ribs he’s got cooking on the grill. His Rev can turn on the charm while cutting down Juicy with the cruelest slights. A modern day King Claudius with a preacher’s gift of gab, this is the show’s true villain. And yes, we do yearn for his demise.
Juicy’s mother, Tedra, like Hamlet’s Gertrude, loves her son but is thoughtlessly self-involved. Ijames gives her a back story that explains her motives and her neglectful nature. Nikki Crawford rounds out Tedra’s rough edges with some fine nuance. As careless as she seems to be, it’s hard to hate her. She has her reasons.
It points to another divergent twist in Fat Ham. Shakespeare largely colored his characters in black and white, giving Hamlet’s tragic end an air of inevitability. By contrast Ijames paints with a lot of grey. All of his characters, good and bad, even the nasty Rev, have their reasons, and there’s nothing inevitable about them. Real life is like that, and it’s what makes Fat Ham so compelling.
The Ophelia counterpart is Opal and she is a sullen creature with her own demons to contend with. She likes girls. Her overbearing mother, the Polonius stand-in, played by Benja Kay Thomas with delicious abandon, won’t have it, insisting that she wear dresses.
As Opal, Adrianna Mitchell is excellent, popping off insightful gems of her own. Unlike Ophelia, she is no shrinking violet. At one point she proclaims to Juicy “We’re on the verge of gaining our powers.”
Opal’s brother is Larry, Fat Ham’s answer to Laertes. Outwardly he’s a crisply uniformed Marine. Inwardly, he too is “soft”. Ijames imagines an attraction between him and Juicy. But just as the plot veers way off course, the dynamic shifts back to the source with a brutal scene that is as shocking as it is honest. Calvin Leon Smith runs the gamut of emotions in very short order and he pulls it off with tremendous finesse. No doubt he’s a gifted actor but nothing will prepare you for his final entrance.
What a challenge it must be for any director to manage all that shifting back and forth between comedy and drama, prose and poetry, light and dark, But Saheem Ali is masterfully up to the task, treating each moment with absolute truth. It does get surreal at times with evocative dancing and music, even a little magic thrown in. And yet it’s all of a piece in this production. Nothing seems too weird or out of place. In fact the collaborative effect of text, direction, lights, set, costumes all serve to amplify both theme and characters. In a karaoke sequence when Juicy sings Radiohead’s Creep, it’s hard to believe the lyrics weren’t written expressly for this show:
But I’m a creep
I’m a weirdo
What the hell am I doin’ here?
I don’t belong here
There’s a brilliant merging of the two plays when Ijames has Juicy recite verbatim Hamlet’s famous soliloquy “What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason…” It points to the two unhappy protagonists’ attempts to understand the human condition. But while Hamlet fails to appreciate humanity in all its messy glory, Juicy seems more hopeful. And if there’s any doubt about that optimistic tone, just wait till you see how Fat Ham ends. I was wondering how Ijames was going to wrap it all up, considering that in Hamlet practically everyone dies. Turns out to be a delightful surprise. Consistent with his message – choose pleasure over harm – Ijames offers us a gloriously uplifting takeaway that might have given even Shakespeare pause. Maybe they didn’t have to die after all.
Fat Ham opened April 12, 2023, at the American Airlines Theatre and runs through June 25. Tickets and information: fathambroadway.com
