Goodman Theatre: Fat Ham Review
Trumane Alston and Anji White
Goodman Theatre Presents FAT HAM Review - Hamlet Goes To The Cookout
TLDR: This adaptation of Hamlet pares Hamlet down to a bite size production that feels like it hits the top notes from the original Shakespearean work. Set in the backyard for a cookout, it explores what it means to be Black and queer when society has pressed certain expectations and prejudices against you.
Anji White and Ronald L. Conner
Goodman Is Hosting A Backyard Barbecue
…and we are all invited! Looking into someone’s backyard, it’s a beautiful, bright, sunny day with blue skies and a few fluffy clouds. There’s a picnic table with a pink tablecloth and an assortment of chairs. A large smoker grill stands proudly waiting to be used. Pink balloons and streamers hang from the deck and lantern lights are strung from the roof. We’re definitely celebrating and then we look up at the banner above the porch screen door and see “Married AF.” It’s a wedding reception!
The screen door slams open and out comes our titular character dressed in all black like he’s in mourning, a stark contrast to the bright, celebratory colors of this party. And so begins Fat Ham.
Sheldon D. Brown, Ronald L. Conner, Trumane Alston, E. Faye Butler, Ireon Roach, and Anji White
Let's Take It Down A Notch
It feels like the playwright, James Ijames, deconstructed Hamlet to really hone in on the core of the play. Instead of a cast of 20+ actors and stretching out into a three hour production, he’s pared it down to a cast of seven and has it last just over an hour and half.
We still get the core group - Hamlet, his father’s ghost, his mother, his uncle, Horatio, and Polonius and his family - and now our focus is only on their relationships. Our actors make it clear what our characters' motivations are in this new modern day dynamic.
Victor Musoni, Trumane Alston, Sheldon D. Brown, E. Faye Butler and Ireon Roach
And Now Bring It Back Up
Now that we've stripped Hamlet down to its core - a son haunted by a vengeful father dealing with his mother’s too quick marriage - let's add some complexity to it. The characters are updated to their Black counterparts, Hamlet is now Juicy, Gertrude Tedra, Ophelia Opal, and so on and so on.
Juicy, played by Trumane Alston, isn't a tortured and brooding prince of Denmark. He’s now a sensitive son getting an online degree and trying to break the cycle of generational trauma. He questions and ponders, sometimes to us, does he have to seek revenge for a person he may not have even liked and traumatized him? While that’s going on, we also see him struggle with prejudice against him being queer and dressing alternatively in all black with a little flair.
Horatio isn’t the solemn, straight-edge best friend of Hamlet. Victor Musoni as Tio is still Hamlet’s best friend and loyal, but his best bouts of wisdom come when he’s high.
Polonius isn’t a high-brow counselor of the king, he’s now Rabby, dressed in a sparkly, bright purple dress and still has big dreams for her two children. E. Faye Butler steals the scene without overpowering her fellow actors every time she’s on stage coming with big auntie/church lady energy.
And so now all our characters are written in this modern, Black context and it opens up a completely different retelling of Hamlet.
The cast plays with each other. They all sit down at the table and pass food around with small talk and praise for the meats. Juicy and Opal (Ireon Roach) discuss their similar love life situations. Anji White as Juicy’s mother, Tedra, struggles with the decisions she’s making with her new marriage and how it impacts her son. We feel like we truly are at a family gathering complete with arguments, karaoke, laughter, memories, drama and all.
Victor Musoni and Trumane Alston
The After Party Thoughts
Even though it's condensed from a three hour play, Fat Ham still hits the marks of Hamlet that people who know and love Shakespeare will appreciate. You’ll get the references and enjoy the parallels the playwright has created. However, if you’re not a fan of Hamlet or Shakespeare, Fat Ham makes Hamlet accessible and still makes for an energetic and thought provoking show exploring self, sexuality, and community.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Trumane Alston and Sheldon D. Brown
When
Extended through March 9, 2025
Where
Goodman Theatre
170 N Dearborn St.
Chicago, IL 60601
Runtime: 1hr 40min, no intermission
Tickets
$35+
Tickets can be purchased on the Goodman Theatre website
Photos
Liz Lauren
Trumane Alston and Ireon Roach
CAST
Trumane Alston (Juicy)
Sheldon Brown (Lary)
E. Faye Butler (Rabby)
Ronald L. Conner (Rev/Pap)
Victor Musoni (Tio)
Ireon Roach (Opal)
Anji White (Tedra)
Understudies: Blake Hamilton Currie, Marquise De’Jahn, TayLar, Joseph Primes, and Jazzy Rush
CREATIVE
James Ijames (Playwright)
Tyrone Phillips (Director)
Arnel Sancianco (Set Design)
Jos N. Banks (Costume Design)
Jason Lynch (Lighting Designer)
Willow James (Sound Designer)
Benjamin Barnes (Illusion Consultant)
Gaby Labotka (Fight and Intimacy Coordinator)
Lauren Port (Casting)
Jared Bellot (Dramaturg)
Patrick Fries (Production Stage Manager)