Showing in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre this month is an uplifting and laughter-laced reincarnation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Fat Ham, written by James Ijames, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2022, and the play’s Stratford-upon-Avon run - showing until Saturday 13 September - is also its European premiere.

The production is bright, poignant, funny, and full of surprises. Fat Ham transposes the tragic events of Hamlet to a backyard barbecue in Southern America. However, the story still centres around a contemplative, indecisive young man as he agonises about his mother’s remarriage to his deceased father’s brother - and there are elegant touches of Shakespeare’s text strewn through the play.

Juicy, played by Olisa Odele, is a young Black man, queer and questioning, who has set his sights on college to escape the cycles of violence that cloud his family history. His father Pap (Sule Rimi), who was killed while in prison for murder, appears before him as a ghost, demanding vengeance. 

Even in the sunny backyard of his home, conflict looms large in Juicy’s life. Pap tries to control his actions from beyond the grave, his uncle Rev (also played by Sule Rimi) kicks back against Juicy’s intellectual introspection, and his mother Tedra (Andi Osho) has spent his college fund. Although the play is built with a light touch, no punches are pulled - and don’t expect a PG certificate.

Juicy’s childhood friends Opal (Jasmine Elcock), Larry (Corey Montague-Sholay) and their godly mother Rabby (Sandra Marvin) join the party. Opal is self-assured and Larry tight-laced - but both are restricted by gender politics and familial expectations. And Juicy’s friend Tio (Kieran Taylor-Ford) provides comic relief and unexpected wisdom, courtesy of his therapist and THC. 

The dialogue is fast-paced, funny and expertly delivered - but in the spaces between, the heart of the play is revealed. Juicy’s soliloquies are pitched directly to the audience, who are drawn in to become active participants in his story. Other characters are allowed to break the fourth wall as well - in one poignant moment, Tedra expresses her discomfort at speaking in front of so many people. Even the scene-changes relax into chatter, as the company comfortably rearrange the furniture. 

Although the play does boast casually breathtaking illusions (courtesy of Skylar Fox), it feels like the 400-year-old source text has been given a healthy dose of realism - and a generous trim. Fat Ham runs at 95 minutes, without an interval, and the time flies by. The performances are slick and engaging, with all characters undeniably flawed, but irresistible. 

Fat Ham offers something new - it acknowledges and turns away from the looming potential of a classic tragedy, and firmly seeks a brighter alternative.  

Five Stars

Fat Ham was reviewed on Thursday 21 August by Jessica Clixby at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, where it shows until Saturday 13 September.