Goodman Theatre’s Fat Ham is the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet that is setting the theatre world on fire nationwide. In its first Chicago-based production after a wildly successful Broadway run, Fat Ham is already scoring big with local audiences. With performances scheduled through February 23rd, tickets are going fast. Visit GoodmanTheatre.org for more.
Playwright James Ljames and director Tyroone Phillips and his Definition Theatre take the audience on a wild ride through the world of William Shakespeare’s epic tale as reimagined in the modern age. In their reimagination of the tragic tale, the moody Danish prince re-emerges as Juicy (Trumane Alston), a conflicted Black, gay man struggling with his weight and identity. He’s faced with a fool’s menagerie of friends and relations based on the original characters of Shakespeare’s play, including the ghost that sets everything in motion. It’s a raucous production that never has a dull moment. The setting, a backyard family barbecue in the Deep South (hence the name Fat Ham) is the tableau for all manner of acerbic interplay between members of the superb ensemble cast.
Goodman rolled out a sterling list of its most seasoned veterans (E. Faye Butler and Ronald L. Conner), with a superb roster of actors in their Goodman debut (Sheldon Brown as Larry, Blake Hamilton Currie, US Larry, US Tio, Marquise De’Jahn (US Juicy, Ireon Roach, Opal) among others.
Goodman in association with Def-in-ition Theatre offers an extremely entertaining evening reminiscent of the early days of black theatre in Chicago at ETA, The Regal and the Parkway Playhouse of decades ago. People came out for an entertaining evening of laughs and intrigue and director Tyrone Phillips certainly replicated that atmosphere in the intimate confines of the Owen Theatre.
All of the action takes place in an outdoor family barbecue, so the confined ‘parlor’ setting, although ostensibly outdoors, lends itself to the type of humor that seems to escalate with the temperature of the meat on the grill. E. Faye Butler is a catalyst to much of the humorous action.
Technically, there could not have been a more concerted effort to create an atmosphere. Costumes by Jos N. Banks, sound design by Willow James and lighting by Jason Lynch created an exciting sight and soundscape. The ghost sequences, in particular, were spectacular.
This is a play that seems to cover all the bases. Behind all of the laughs, there’s some very serious commentary, but the playwright makes his points without slowing down the pace. This is a must-see play evidenced by the fact that tickets are going fast. For more visit GoodmanTheatre.org.
