Fat Ham, Studio Theatre, Washington, DC

 

The cast of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham playing charades at Studio Theatre. Photo credit: Martha Schulman.

The day after I saw Studio Theatre’s production of Fat Ham, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize winner in Drama by James Ijames, I received an advertisement for the production with the tag line: “Revenge is a dish best served with BBQ sauce.” That, in a nutshell, symbolizes the difference between this play and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. There are numerous parallels between the two. Both are stories about dysfunctional families in which a son is charged with avenging his father’s death, but one is set in the Danish court and the other in the backyard of “a house in North Carolina, or Virginia, or Maryland, or Tennessee.” Hamlet’s geographic location is immaterial (there is nothing very Danish about it), but Fat Ham’s is not: we are definitely somewhere in the South, though not necessarily the deepest South.

As the play begins, Juicy, a Black, Queer young man most likely in his twenties, is decorating the back yard, preparing a celebration even though he detests the event being celebrated. Very shortly after the death of Juicy’s father (stabbed in prison, where he was serving time for stabbing an employee at the family’s barbeque restaurant), his mother Tedra has remarried…the brother of her deceased husband. First Juicy’s friend Tio sees a ghost while Juicy is in the house, which Juicy cannot believe. Shortly thereafter, though, the ghost of his father, Pap, appears to Juicy. Pap tells Juicy that his brother, Rev, is responsible for his murder and orders Juicy to avenge his death by killing Rev. Juicy is ambivalent about this. Rev has treated Juicy poorly, but his father, Pap, was abusive as well.

Marquis D. Gibson as Juicy, Tanesha Gary as Tedra, and Greg Alverez Reid as Rev in Fat Ham. Photo credit: Martha Schulman.

Also in the mix are Juicy’s friends Larry, who first appears in his dress uniform as a Marine and remains mostly silent, and Larry’s sister Opal, who is wearing a frilly dress, as ordered by her mother, but over shredded jeans. Opal decidedly does not want to be there. Larry and Opal’s mother, Rabby, a close friend of Tedra’s, is one of those “church ladies” who minds everyone’s business.

Rev, Pap’s brother, is a dominating, violent presence. Even though the setting is (was) his brother’s home, Rev pronounces that it is HIS house now and Juicy will be living under his rules. Yes, his own father was no picnic, but Juicy recognizes that life in Rev’s house will be worse.

Despite the many parallels between Hamlet and this play, Hamlet is deadly serious and Fat Ham often wildly comic. (I can also report that there are no swords and the body count in this is much lower than in Hamlet.) Like Hamlet, Juicy often breaks the “fourth wall” to address the audience directly. At times, he recites passages from Hamlet, much to the chagrin of his mother, who threatens him with “if you bring up that dead white man one more time.” An unseen character named Yorick is also mentioned – a friend, he is deceased. His mother has sold his tennis shoes to Juicy. Some familiar quotations are given very different settings: in Fat Ham, “Ay, there’s the rub” is about preparing barbeque.

Before the play’s end, secrets and “true” characters will be revealed, resulting in very different understandings of who these characters really are. Some of the revelations are quite shocking. Coming in at just over 90 minutes, Fat Ham reminds us of the universality of the themes and relationships Shakespeare put on the stage more than 400 years ago, but adds contemporary themes including questions of sexuality and toxic masculinity. All this is accomplished in a world where there is room for karaoke, charades, and potato salad.

Karaoke time with the cast of Fat Ham. Photo credit: Martha Shulman.

Director Taylor Reynolds and her cast mine the interrelationships of the characters and the dynamics of understanding and acceptance, resulting in a triumphant celebration and making full use of the Mead Theatre space. Reynolds has been gifted with an outstanding design and technical staff. Set designer Jean Kim has created a versatile, recognizable, and realistic backyard setting with delightful attention to detail. Danielle Preston’s costumes personify the characters they represent: Rabby’s electric blue dress and hat, for example, tell you everything you need to know about this “church lady.” Preston’s vision for the otherworldly ghost is unexpected, but perfectly embodies not just ghosts in general, but Pap’s ghost in particular. Minjoo Kim’s lighting design enhances the setting, adds to the otherworldly illusions, and telegraphs Juicy’s soliloquies. Sound designer/composer Shafan Refik Zafar, props designer Deb Thomas, fight choreographer Gerrad Alex Taylor, choreography consultant Tony Thomas, and intimacy choreographer Dane Figueroa Edidi also deserve mention, as well as Ryan Phillips, credited as “illusion consultant.”

Marquis D. Gibson’s Juicy grows as the play progresses. Unapologetically an effeminate gay man, he is comfortable with his own persona, even as that persona makes other characters uncomfortable. The relationship between Gibson’s Juicy and Tanesa Gary as his mother Tedra is true-to-life. Gary’s sassy newlywed is magnetic and willing to stand up to new husband Rev. Rev is played with sadistic power by Greg Alvarez Reid, who also appears as his deceased brother’s ghost. As the ghost, Reid is sympathetic in part, but rough enough for us to understand Juicy’s ambivalence toward him, even in ghostly form. Gaelyn D. Smith as Opal and Matthew Elijah Webb as Larry are credible and effective as sister and brother, raised under the thumb of busybody Rabby (Kelli Blackwell), who brings down the house when her secret is revealed. Thomas Walter Booker is in fine comic form as Tio, Juicy’s often-high friend and confidante.

Fat Ham is meaningful and enjoyable on its own terms, but familiarity with Hamlet will enhance your appreciation of the accomplishment of playwright James Ijames. You may not catch all the references, but you will marvel at how Ijames has constructed this play.

Studio Theatre posts this content advisory on their website:

Fat Ham is a contemporary riff on Hamlet and contains descriptions of murder, intimate partner violence, incarceration, military PTSD, and suicidal ideation. It contains uses of the n-word as a term of affection; homophobic language and attitudes; simulated intoxication; audio of pornographic video; several acts of onstage violence; and a simulated onstage death by choking.

Fat Ham‘s run has been extended; it continues at Studio through January 14, 2024.

The cast of Fat Ham at Studio Theatre: Marquis D. Gibson as Juicy (front), and (L to R): Gaelyn D. Smith (Opal), Matthew Elijah Webb (Larry), Greg Alverez Reid (Rev), Tanesha Gary (Tedra), and Kelli Blackwell (Rabby), Photo credit: Margot Schulman.