Theater Review: Fat Ham

                    Cast of "Fat Ham" at the Old Globe

“What do you do when God won’t have you and the devil don’t want you?”

The question at the beginning of playwright James Ijames’ 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Fat Ham,” is posed by Pap (Ethan Henry), father of son Juicy (Sola Fadiran), right before Pap is killed in prison.

The answer is illustrated in “Fat Ham,” which plays through June 23 at The Old Globe Theatre. He includes a taste of The Bard’s play “Hamlet” (the “Ham” of the title). But the cast is mostly Black, the place is somewhere in the U.S. and some of the characters are gay, so it’s not the Shakespeare you’re used to seeing.

Juicy and his mom Tedra (Felicia Boswell) live in the South, maybe North Carolina or Virginia or Maryland or even Tennessee. During a family cookout that includes several more people, Pap’s ghost comes to demand justice. It seems he was murdered in prison, and he wants revenge, the more so because Tedra has taken the opportunity to fix up the bathroom and remarry with the Rev (Ethan Henry). 

Juicy thinks the least they can do is have a family barbecue, and he takes those steps, and invites several family members and friends. In addition, the fourth wall falls – and the cast occasionally talks to the audience.

“Fat Ham” is short – 110 minutes, straight through – and fun to watch. And gets more Shakespearean as time goes on. But when the food on the broiler is ready, Dad’s ghost shows up to announce that “this is virtual reality.”

And the ending? The basic question here is, how much do you owe others, and what would life be like if you chose pleasure? They say the dead remind you to live.

We could all use more of that.

The details

“Fat Ham” plays through June 23, 2024 on The Old Globe’s Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, 1363 Old Globe Way.

Shows Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Tickets: Tickets@TheOldGlobe.org; (619) 234-5623

BIPOC Theatre Night: Friday, May 31 at 6:30 p.m.

Black Pride Theatre Night: Friday, June 7 at 6:30 p.m.

An open-caption performance will be held on  Saturday, June 15 at 2 p.m.