*** Most theater-goers are familiar with Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” a dealing with revenge, madness ,tragedy and power. For those who are unfamiliar, it is the story of Hamlet’s father’s death and his mother then marrying his uncle ( father’s brother). This was written a long time ago, and for the most part is a sad story. Play it forward to today. James IJames modern version of this classic brings us to current times and his Award winning version of the story called “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 the 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 Karaoke 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 is only 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).
“Fat Ham” will continue thru March 2nd with performances as follows:
Thursdays 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Fridays 7:30pm
Saturdays 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Sundays 2:00pm & 7:30pm March 2nd- NO EVENING PERFORMANCE
Wednesdays, February 10th, 19th and 26th at 7:30pm
Stage: Owen Theatre
The Goodman Theatre is located at 170 N. Dearborn ( just North of Peterino’s)
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Fat Ham”.
Review: “Fat Ham” at Goodman Theatre
By: Paul Lisnek, Behind the Curtain, WGNRadio.com
****/4
To see or not to see! There is NO question: See Fat Ham!
Yes, it’s a re-telling in very modern terms of Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet. If I were to select a famous phrase that represents the message to the audience from this Pulitzer Prize winning (for Drama) play it would be: “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
A barbeque set in the south is the playground for a story of Black, queer discovery in which we see the strength of character strength grow before our eyes thru a somewhat dysfunctional family afternoon.
Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet that “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” And in this production, there’s lots of thinking, lots of imagining…and the story is told thru masterful casting!
No matter the size of her role, Chicago’s very own E. Faye Butler commands the stage as Rabby, a larger than life figure who tries to control her family which is clearly beyond her control. But of course all eyes are on Juicy (warmly and thoughtfully portrayed by Trumane Alston) because without a sense of sympathy for a character who is strongly contemplating committing a violent act, this show can’t work.
Strong performances are turned in by every single actor who embodies their role making even the exaggerated character play very real…and very relatable.
There is no need to trim any Fat from Fat Ham…it’s perfectly done as is….it’s not to be missed.
One suggestion: you’ll want to make after show reservations for dinner, because there’s little chance you can walk out of the theater not craving some ribs, ham…and for vegetarians, some really good mac and cheese!
G
Goodman has created another classic production that rivals any version you would have seen on Broadway.
Thursdays 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Review: “Fat Ham” at Goodman Theatre
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