October 2, 2023 by Ife Oshun
I sauntered into Huntington Theater’s opening night of James Ijames’ Fat Ham, thinking that the 2022 Pulitzer Prize and five-time Tony nominee would constitute yet another rendition of ye ole Hamlet. Hours later, jaded-ness exorcised by comic genius and belief in fresh Shakespeare takes renewed, I cried happy tears inspired by Black, queer joy.
This electrifying romp sees its lead (the brilliant Marshall W. Mabry) deliver hilarious Gen Z insights and drop the Bard’s “what a piece of work is man” monologue with such technical aplomb I felt like I’d never truly heard it. “Man delights not me: no, nor woman neither” indeed! Alas, I missed a bit of the 90-minute, no intermission comedy-drama, due to damn near running to the unisex bathroom and back, and decided in the crowded post-performance lobby, clinging to my beautifully-designed program, that I simply must return for a second go round.
Oh, such wicked good madness.
Days later, I revisited the Calderwood Pavilion accompanied by my 19-year old son, aye, the one who’d devoured Hamlet multiple times before 4th grade. ”Ma,” he sighed, “you’re always dragging me to these boring things.” Was he right? Had my thirst-trapped search for abiding contemporary Shakespeare caused me to, like Hamlet, lose my Gen X mind?
By the time we were in our seats, I’d already spent a half hour in an unrequested soliloquy about how the Alliance Theatre and Front Porch Arts Collective production brilliantly turns the long-acknowledged misogyny of the original on its head. Along with the queer-liciousness sprinkled all over the Ham, all characters identifying as female have a voice and distinct personalities. And despite the new found identity these oft-underserved roles suffer, Ham’s mom–also battling toxic masculinity in her own search for life’s meaning–admits that now that she finally has everyone’s attention she doesn’t know what to say. This tragic twist resonated so deeply in my fellow Black woman brain, I had to catch my breath. I forgot about the details–Stevie Walker-Webb’s tight, effective direction, PJ Johnnie, Jr.’s invigorating choreography, Luciana Stecconi’s realistic set design, the troupe’s stellar performances, the ROTFLOL humor and Xiangfu Xiao’s lighting–and got lost in Ham’s mad, lofty musings piercing the fourth wall, while Ijames’ glorious exploration of family dysfunction unfolded within a search for identity, acceptance and truth transcending time and space.
At evening’s end, my son, sensitive soul that he is, admitted I wasn’t mad after all. The karaoke and disco were the cherry on top. Really, go see this play now. You might see me on my third visit singing Radiohead’s “Creep” in the front row.
