No matter how many times you happen to have seen Hamlet, odds are likely low that you have ever seen anything like Fat Ham. And, assuming you are lucky enough to snag a highly sought after ticket, you would be missing out on a genuinely good time if you choose not to indulge in this delicious morsel of a BBQ-meets-Shakespeare tale at Wilton Manors’ Island City Stage, where it will be playing until only this May 4th.
This is also thankfully only the first stop for this winning collaboration between that beloved company and two other standout local theatre companies: Brévo Theatre, (with the company’s artistic director Terrence “TM” Pride serving as Fat Ham’s director) and Gablestage (where Fat Ham will celebrate its Miami premiere with the same cast and most of the same creative team from May 16 – June 15th).
Based on this, I can be pretty damn confident that this subsequent production will be just as stellar as Fat Ham’s first Fort Lauderdale go-round, given that the pitch-perfect interpretations of each character offered up by a top-notch cast of local Black actors was one of the play’s major highlights. I’ve also heard whispers that scenic designer Jervin “Jaystone” Thompson’s vibrant set will be mostly replicated, though perhaps embellished to suit the larger space.
Most importantly, the bones of playwright James IJames’ Pulitzer winning script will presumably be unaltered in the cross-county transition. If you’re at all familiar with Hamlet, it should be relatively easy for you to recognize IJames’ Shakespearean inspiration by the replication of a few key plot elements, and those better-versed in the Bard’s work will likely also pick up on subtler references that pepper the dialogue throughout. But instead of leaning on the power of these borrowed elements to prop up a derivative story, IJames brings forth in his bold reimagining of the classic tragedy a wholly original work.
Those who find themselves overwhelmed by old-fashioned language when taking on Shakespeare’s work directly should also have no trouble digesting this more modern and more accessible take. The play follows a Black family in the present-day American south, and IJames uses slang and other linguistic quirks to evoke a recognizable subculture as he brings these characters to life.
To start with the players whose triangulation is most clearly inspired by its Shakespearen predecessor: Juicy (Henry Cadet), our Hamlet analogue, is a troubled, overthinker of a youth and Tedra (April Nixon) is his lively, beautiful mother. “The Rev” (Melvin Huffnagle), is a paternal uncle of Juicy’s who has quickly usurped his late brother Pap’s former position at the helm of the family’s barbecue restaurant, and even more suspiciously, in his former sister in law’s bed.
Theatregoers keeping an eye out may also notice Huffnagle making another appearance as a ghostly apparition, though he brought such vastly different energies to his two roles, that I was genuinely surprised to eventually discover that he’d been doing double duty—though
Ernesto Pinto (lighting designer), Evan Northrup (illusion designer) and Lisa Victoria Coleman (costume designer) also deserve some credit for the masquerade and their part in the show’s overall technical proficiency.
Fat Ham begins shortly after Tedra and Rev have made things official in a courthouse wedding, taking place at their makeshift backyard reception. In place of Horatio, we have in attendance Juicy’s best friend Tio (Mikhael Mendoza), an endearing sex-crazed stoner. And instead of Polonius, we get Rabby, an out-of-touch church lady who actress Toddra Brunson plays to the hilarious physical comedy max. Rabby’s also dragged her two children to help her celebrate her friend Tedra’s hasty nuptials: Opal (Cassidy J. Joseph) an impressively self-possessed and spunky young woman, and Larry (Denzel McCausland), who initially emerges as a stoic, somber presence and later reveals a far more colorful side.
Though you may be tempted to look to Hamlet for a hint as to which of these two characters might serve as a love interest for Juicy, you’d be better served by taking Island City’s focus on LGBTQ+ stories into consideration. And the exploration of the tension that Juicy’s (assumed) sexual orientation has created in his family in putting him at odds with conventional conceptions of masculinity is one of the play’s more nuanced focuses.
