“Fat Ham”

The Goodman Theatre in association with Def-in-ition  Theatre under the clever direction of Tyrone Phillips is offering this 105 minutes of story that will make this tragedy , more modern, and quite funny. This all takes place in the Owen Theatre ( the smaller of the two venues in hte building) on an amazing set designed by Arnel Sancianco. When you enter the theater, you will see a very typical back yard with a grill, deck, and of course several ways to enter the house. In fact, if you did not know you were in a theater and that it was -2 degrees outside, you might feel that you are at a summer outing.

The event we are attending is a wedding party where Tedra ( a powerful performance by Anji White) has married her brother-in-law, ( Ronald L.Conner plays this role, but also the role of the ghost of his brother). He is terrific. Juicy ( deftly handled by Trumane Alston) is concerned that his uncle may be responsible for his father’s demise and is seeking an action plan.

The party continues with guests arriving Rabby ( played to perfection by E. Faye Butler) and her children, Larry (Sheldon D. Brown, who will shock you with what he does in his final scene) and Opal (Ireon Roach). There are many surprises in the story that are very “current” and quite electrifying. The story does have some sexual overtones and a little bit of “gangsta” with Juicy’s best friend Tio (A smooth portrayal by Victor Musoni).

I found the script to have many funny lines , but felt that this is not a show for those who truly love Shakespeare as IJames has taken a lot of liberties with the original story. Did I laugh? Yes! Did I have a good time? Yes!. In fact, for the most part the full house seemed to appreciate the humor and the alterations to the story did not effect the laughter.The Kereoke scene is adorable , I must say that when E.Faye takes the stage, the temperature starts to rise. She is one of Chicago’s best!

On the tech side, the costumes (Jos N. Banks) were terrific. In particular, the final one for Brown. The sound design (Willow James) and lighting (Jason Lynch worked well. The performers were not wearing mics, but they were projecting well enough to reach us all. The ghost sequences were quite clever as Pap came out of a cooler and then the barbeque. Very cool indeed!

The play does deal with sexual choices , but that i sonly a part of what we are seeing. I don’t want to give it all away, but if you look closely at the characters names ( other than Juicy) you will see that in this play, they are more modern and condensed, but easily can be directed to Shakespeare’s original names. Again, will you enjoy it if you are a fanatic when Shakespeare is involved? Probably not! Will you have fun with it? Yes! Give it a try. What have you got to lose? It is only 105 minutes ( no intermission).