Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘Raw, Visceral, Funny, Fabulous’
T2's ‘Fat Ham' takes thought-provoking look at ‘Hamlet'
Simply put, “Fat Ham” would not be on the TheatreSquared stage — at least not right now, in this incarnation — were it not for the power of collaboration. Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the comedy by James Ijames is being produced at T2 after a run that got rave reviews at City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, Pa.
“Partnering with our friends at TheatreSquared deliberately expands City Theatre’s national reach and will allow our beloved local artists the opportunity to share their talents with the Fayetteville community and beyond,” says the play’s director, Monteze Freeland, who is also the co-artistic director at City Theatre. “This decadent play contains the elements that makes contemporary theater not only a place for entertainment, but healing; it’s raw, visceral, funny, and fabulous.”
“’Fat Ham’ delights on several levels,” agrees Shannon Jones, T2 executive director. “It’s an innovative exploration that weaves together the contemporary and the classic, offering audiences an exhilarating new way to engage with timeless themes like power, identity and justice. Audiences get a modern take on one of Shakespeare’s greatest works, reimagined with a fresh, thought-provoking twist.
“We’re also thrilled to co-produce with our partners at City Theatre,” Jones adds. “This collaboration not only enriches the theatrical experience but also underscores the power of partnership in bringing groundbreaking stories to life on our stage.”
According to Concord Theatricals, the premise of “Fat Ham” surrounds Juicy, a “queer, Southern college kid, [who is] already grappling with some serious
questions of identity when the ghost of his father shows up in their back yard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder.”
“Juicy knows about trauma — after all, he’s a gay Black man in North Carolina,” wrote Maya Phillips in The New York Times in May 2022. “But his more immediate concern is this barbecue, which is a wedding celebration for his mother, Tedra, and his uncle Rev, who have married just a week after the murder of Juicy’s father, Pap…
“So many playwrights and directors try to find the spaces in Shakespeare’s texts that they can squeeze into, strong-arming their personal sensibilities and contemporary politics into some of Shakespeare’s bestknown speeches and scenes,” Phillips wrote. “Ijames does the opposite in ‘Fat Ham’; he steals the bones of the original and sloughs off the excess like the fatty bits on a slab of meat. He crafts his own story and then within it makes space for Shakespeare again.”
The T2 production’s acting company includes Brandon Foxworth, Maria BecoatesBey, Khalil Kain, Elexa Hanner, LaTrea Rembert, Linda Haston and Jordan Williams. Becoates-Bey, who plays Juicy’s mother, Tedra, is a veteran of the City Theatre show and says both her experiences there and at T2 have been a joy.
“I don’t consider myself a comedic actor, so getting over that has been the biggest challenge,” she says. “The biggest reward has been being back on the stage, working with a wonderful director and the beautiful and talented cast.”
Becoates-Bey, a Pittsburgh native and Point Park University alumna, is best known for her musical theater work in shows like “The Wiz,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Hair” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” and films like “The Haunting Hours,” “Renegade Force,” “Iron Maze” and “Hammerlock.” She promises T2 audiences they’ll not only love the show but “walk away with a great message!”
Perhaps it’s this. Perhaps, wrote The New York Times, “the real tragedy of Hamlet is that it doesn’t end with a dance party.”