ABOUT
FAT HAM
Directed by Monteze Freeland
A co-production with TheatreSquared (Fayetteville, AR)
This uproariously funny, Pulitzer Prize-winning new play comes to City Theatre straight from Broadway! A modern revamp of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Fat Ham follows Juicy, a queer, pensive, young Black man finding his way in the world when the ghost of his father demands Juicy avenges his murder. Set at the family cookout, this “hilarious yet profound tragedy smothered in comedy” (The New York Times) examines love, loss, and a particular set of daddy issues.
CAST
Brandon Foxworth (Juicy)
Maria Becoates-Bey (Tendra)
Khalil Kain (Rev/Pap)
Elexa Lindsay Hanner (Opal)
LaTrea Rembert (Larry)
Linda Haston (Rabby)
Jordan Williams (Tio)
PRESS
Preview: Pulitzer Winner ‘Fat Ham’ Comes to City Theatre
by Sharon Eberson, onStage Pittsburgh
Fat Ham at City Theatre puts a Black, queer spin on Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Review: ‘Fat Ham’ Turns Hamlet on Its Head at City Theatre
by Bob Hoover, onStage Pittsburgh
A Hamlet Roast: ‘Fat Ham’ at City Theatre
by Mike Vargo, Entertainment Central
Review: FAT HAM Serves Cookout Chaos Realness at City Theatre
by Greg Kerestan, BroadwayWorld
Monteze Freeland and Howard Patterson – FAT HAM City Theatre
Voice of the Arts Podcast
One ‘Fat Ham,’ hold the patriarchy — new play premieres at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre
by Bill O’Driscoll, 90.5 WESA
TICKETS
Tickets on sale now!
PERFORMANCE DATES AND TIMES
PLAYWRIGHT
JAMES IJAMES is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, a director and educator. James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago IL) Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright’s Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.
James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ….Miz Martha, a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize and the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient.
James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective. He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University. He resides in South Philadelphia.