Comic ‘Fat Ham’ Echoes Hamlet Thru African-American Prism

By Bill Hirschman

Fat Ham, which tells of a young gay man at his Black family’s contentious backyard barbeque, is basically a huge grin.

The fact that the ingenious plot in this South Florida tri-company production intentionally glances off touchpoints echoing Shakespeare’s Hamlet does not and doesn’t intend to cover up that this is simply a fun farce.

Yes, an online study guide claims “The play addresses issues of Southern identity, as well as what it means to be Black and an LGBTQIA+ person in the 21st century. It explores family bonds and expectations while raising questions about the obligations of family loyalty.”

Well, perhaps, if you look really hard, but James Ijames’ undeniably enchanting evening seems more interested in just having a good time.

This won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and got five Tony nominations, But some critics contended it was a testament to mainstream white theater’s long-overdue commitment to broaden a full embrace of African-American work.

Indeed, tribute is due a collection of local parties. Island City Stage Artistic Director Andy Rogow read the script in 2021 but wondered if the company could “make it work.” Then the Our Fund Foundation hooked him up with the young Brévo Theatre company to provide a stage for its The Brothers Size. They agreed to co-produce Fat Ham. And then they discovered that Producing Artistic Director Bari Newport at GableStage also was considering the work. She joined the duo. And finally the Warten Foundation agreed to help support it.

So the play runs through May 4 at Island City Stage’s Wilton Manors home and then moves stage and cast to GableStage from May 16-June 15.

Here’s the setup; spot the echoes of the Bard.

We’re in the homey backyard of a well-to-do family in South Carolina where we meet Juicy (Henry Cadet). The emerging gay is coping with the certainty — after being visited by the Little Richard suit-wearing ghost of his father — that his sneering uncle “the Rev” murdered him to wed Juicy’s mother Tedra.

Today, a week after the murder, the family is celebrating the wedding of his sex-drenched mother Tedra (April Nixon) and “the Rev” (Melvin Huffnagle), an overbearing dictator who wants Juicy to learn how to be a hog slaughterer in his barbeque restaurant.

Juicy who acknowledges being gay (“I want to be soft”) amid a distinctly straight clan says alternatively, “I’m a freak… I don’t belong here…. I wish I was special.” But he tells his close buddy Tio (Mikhael Mendoza): “This is what I was raised in: pig guts and bad choices.”

Juicy is a poet of sorts and philosopher familiar with the Dane, but his main dream is to go off to college to become a human resources administrator. Unfortunately, his macho uncle sells off Juicy’s stipend in order to remodel the new couple’s bathroom which is too pink for him.

Of course, a clash is coming, but not quite what you expect.

Joining the crowd at the fest is Tedra’s friend, Rabby (Toddra Brunson,) her teenager Opal (Cassidy J. Joseph) and Larry (Denzel McCausland), Rabby’s son back from the Marines with his own closeted issues.

Ijames intentionally does echo aspects of Hamlet, but he does so having a blast tweaking us. For instance, instead of the uncle running away in guilt during a scene by the strolling players, he bolts as the family plays charades.

He skillfully fuses contemporary phraseology and some 16th century language into a rhythm that creates a near-poetic vernacular slang that no white guy would dare try to write.

James also has Juicy indulge into Hamlet-like monologues and on occasion gives way to snatches of “What a piece of work is man” and “There’s the rub” referring to the sauce on Rev’s good barbeque. And Tio recalls their dead classmate Yorick whose sneakers he bought at a fundraiser for his funeral.

Director Terrence “TM” Pride, artistic director of Brévo, succeeds in keeping the night rolling and the audience chortling, although those more high-falutin’ concepts referred to in esoteric analysis pieces barely peek out from under the burlesque.

All of the cast, many of whom you’ve seen in the ranks of African-American plays locally, enthusiastically inhabit these caricatures – from Tedra/Nixon’s body-swirling vamp to the terrific Huffnagle’s double duty as the tyrannical Rev and the flashy Pap. Cadet, a recent New World grad, showed promise we long to see in other productions.

A bit of background on Brévo Theatre, a Miami-Pompano Beach company. It began producing works in 2021 with Funnyhouse of a Negro by Adrienne Kennedy,

Founded by Zaylin Yates and Terrence Pride at Florida A&M University, it styles itself as “dedicated to amplifying diverse voices in theatre… (that) delve into pressing social issues and celebrate the richness of Black narratives.”

During COVID-19, Brévo responded with Protest Art, a virtual dance series highlighting racial injustice, including Hope For Tomorrow, commissioned by the Adrienne Arsht Center.

Their staging of American Son by Christopher Demos-Brown featured antalkback titled 2 Shades of Black: An Exploration of Biracial Identity, with the playwright.

For more information about the company, go to https://brevotheatre.org/.

Fat Ham runs through May 4 at Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors,. Performances 7 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday; Individual show tickets at Island City Stage $43-48. A Mimosa Sunday reception set for April 13 with tickets at $60. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.islandcitystage.org, call (954) 928-9800 or email boxoffice@islandcitystage.org.

It plays at GableStage May 16-June 15, Individual show tickets start at $40. Shows 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Wednesday and Sundays. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit gablestage.org or call (305) 445-1119. Running time is roughly 95 minutes with no intermission.