We’re invited to a backyard barbecue to celebrate the recent wedding of a mother who married her recently murdered husband’s brother. The mom’s son, Juice, is not happy about his uncle becoming his stepdad, and even less happy when his dad’s ghost appears to him and demands that Juice avenge his murder.
Just as you might imagine, family drama ensues. If the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning “Fat Ham,” now playing at Capital Stage, sounds like Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, that’s because some of playwright James Ijames’ plot and character personalities mirror those of the play. Never fear, though – there is no need to read the Bard before visiting CapStage.
The title “Fat Ham” works two ways – a nod to “Hamlet” and a nod to the Southern Black family’s barbecue background.
Juice (James Simpson), the Hamlet of “Fat Ham”, is a self-conscious gay Black college student afraid to come out to his family. Which is understandable when you first meet the family – each character has a distinct personality, whose own backgrounds and secrets are slowly revealed.
Juice is quite the mama’s boy – mama being Tedra (Brooklynn T. Solomon), who declares she married her murdered husband’s brother Rev (Brandon Rubin) because she needs a companion. Though Tedra declares herself dependent on men, she’s actually quite feisty and showboaty.
Juice’s Uncle Rev tries to jump way too soon into the uncle-turned-dad role, but it’s soon revealed he’s quite the asshole. The conflict escalates as the quiet, self-effacing Juice finally finds his voice.
The other characters include Juice’s cousins Opal (Kali Honeywood) and Larry (Tarig Elsiddig), Aunt Rabby (Sené Goss), and Cousin Tio (Xzavier Beacham). Opal is open-minded and outspoken, while Larry is a Marine trying to figure out his own identity. Rabby is more the church lady and wannabe peacemaker, and Tio brings light and laughter to the barbecue.
Conversations revolve around family, food, fights and fate as the audience is brought into another culture. There is a lot of salty, strong language and cultural slang, with lots of humor sprinkled throughout.
Each of the actors works both in their own character development as well as interacting within the cacophony of the family gathering. Simpson as Juice is mostly the quiet observer, sometimes speaking directly to the audience, but it’s satisfying to see him slowly emerge with confidence.
Director Anthony D’Juan has a challenge – with so many characters with their own strong personalities, it must be like herding cats. But D’Juan proves to be an excellent cat wrangler, allowing the cast to capture their individual characters as well as interacting with each other.
The simple set, which never changes because all action plays out in the same backyard, includes the backdrop of a house looking out to a yard with a barbecue, picnic tables and chairs. The colorful party decorations of balloons and streamers welcome the guests to the party.
The play runs 90 minutes with no intermission. There is an American Sign Language interpretation during the April 18 performance. “Fat Ham” plays at Capital Stage through April 19; Wednesdays to Fridays, 7 p.m., Saturdays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays 2 p.m. 2215 J St.
This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics, the city had no editorial influence over this story. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Hmong Daily News, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.
By Patti Roberts
