Benja Kay Thomas News

The 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Fat Ham by James Ijames will make its Broadway premiere in 2023. The Public’s Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali returns to direct the complete original Off-Broadway cast, including Nikki Crawford as “Tedra,” Chris Herbie Holland as “Tio,” Billy Eugene Jones as “Rev” and “Pap,” Adrianna Mitchell as “Opal,” Calvin Leon Smith as “Larry,” Marcel Spears as “Juicy,” and Benja Kay Thomas as “Rabby.”

In honor of Veterans Day, Arts in the Armed Forces will present a reading of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning play FAT HAM by James Ijames, directed by Sideeq Heard, featuring original cast members from the successful off-Broadway co-production between The Public Theater and National Black Theatre ​​directed by Saheem Ali.

Casting has been announced for the 11th annual 48Hours in…Harlem”. Harlem9, the producing collective responsible for the OBIE Award-Winning “48Hours in…Harlem”, “48Hours in…El Bronx”, “48Hours in…Detroit”, “48Hours in…Dallas,” and “48Hours in…Holy Ground”, is back in person in Harlem after three years away. 

Harlem9 is back in person in Harlem after three years away with 48 Hours... In Harlem. A whirlwind weekend of play creation with emerging and established artists will culminate with two live performances on Sunday, August 21, 2022 at 7 PM and 9:30 PM.

Mykal Kilgore and Company members of Fat Ham came together for a cover of Kill The Lights! Watch the music video here!

The 2022 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play FAT HAM has extended for a third time at The Public Theater and will now run through Sunday, July 17th.

Critically-acclaimed playwright James Ijames reinvents Shakespeare's masterpiece with his new, Pulitzer prize-winning drama, FAT HAM, which is currently playing at the Public Theater. Below, watch as PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown gets the scoop on the new show from Ijames as a part of the arts and culture series, CANVAS.

FAT HAM, the 2022 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, celebrated its opening night last night at The Public Theater! Go inside the celebration!

Check out the critic's reviews from the New York Times and elsewhere for the The Public Theater and National Black Theatre production of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play FAT HAM at The Public Theater.  

The Public Theater and National Black Theatre has announced that the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play FAT HAM has extended again now through Sunday, July 3rd at The Public Theater.  

See the first photos from FAT HAM! Critically-acclaimed playwright James Ijames reinvents Shakespeare’s masterpiece with his new drama, FAT HAM. Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder.

FAT HAM, the reinvented, comedic version of HAMLET, started previews last week at The Public Theater, co-produced with National Black Theatre. Playwright James Ijames won the Pulitzer Prize for FAT HAM last week.

The Public Theater and National Black Theatre will begin previews on Thursday, May 12 for the upcoming New York Premiere of FAT HAM, written by James Ijames and directed by Public Theater Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali.

Following an exciting and innovative filmed production produced by The Wilma Theater in 2021 during the shutdown, FAT HAM will make its live New York premiere this spring in the Anspacher Theater.

Special Offer - Fat Ham: A new kind of Hamlet 👑

Special Offer - Fat Ham Casting: Meet Juicy

The Public Theater and National Black Theatre announced complete casting today for the upcoming New York Premiere of FAT HAM written by James Ijames and directed by Public Theater Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director Saheem Ali.

Atlantic Theater Company announces a one week extension for the world premiere production of Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside and Crazy), directed by Obie Award winner John Ortiz, and co-produced with LAByrinth Theater Company. The critically acclaimed production, which opened on Monday, December 9th will now play through Sunday, January 5th, 2020 Off-Broadway at Atlantic's Linda Gross Theater (336 West 20th Street).

Last night, the world premiere production of Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside and Crazy), directed by Obie Award winner John Ortiz, and co-produced by Atlantic Theater Company and LAByrinth Theater Company, opened Off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theater (336 West 20th Street).

Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis takes his style to another level in this world premiere play about the harrowing, humorous, and heartbreaking inner workings of a women's halfway house in New York City, helmed by John Ortiz (LAByrinth Artistic Director) in his Off-Broadway directing debut. Atlantic is thrilled to partner with LAByrinth Theater Company to present Guirgis' first new play since Atlantic Theater Company's 2014 award-winning production of Between Riverside and Crazy.