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‘Fat Ham’ Review: James Ijames’ Pulitzer-Winning ‘Hamlet’ Riff Is a Broadway Feast
Naveen Kumar New York stages are rarely without some version of Shakespeare’s mopey Danish prince, tormented by fatal family drama. But none has ever been quite like the protagonist of “Fat Ham,” Juicy, who is described by the playwright James Ijames as “gloriously and beautifully soft in both body and temperament.” Something is rotten in Juicy’s world, which, like Hamlet’s, pulses with violence, desire and scrutiny over the nature of existence. But this is also a classic cookout, where bloodspill is generally limited to the slaughtered hog on the grill. Not to mention that “Fat Ham” is a total gas — the funniest and most invigorating new show on Broadway, where the acclaimed Public Theater production, co-produced with National Black Theatre, has opened after an Off Broadway run last year. Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize, “Fat Ham” recasts its source material to imagine what Shakespeare did not — how people might overcome circumstances, expectations and their own demons to forge new paths through life.
