FAT HAM Reading Featuring Original Cast Members to be Presented by Arts in the Armed Forces for Veterans Day

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.

Cast includes J. Bernard Calloway, Nikki Crawford, Chris Herbie Holland, Alexandria Lewis, Adrianna Mitchell, Calvin Leon Smith, Marcel Spears, and Benja Kay Thomas.

FREE for veterans, current active duty service members, and their guests. Must be 18+ to enter. A limited number of civilian tickets will be available by sponsoring a military ticket. An audience Q&A will immediately follow the performance.

The reading will take place on Monday, November 7, 2022 at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036. Doors open at 5:00 PM. The performance begins at 6:00 PM, followed by a Q&A with cast.

Event concludes at approximately 8:15 PM

TICKETS:

Events.aitaf.org

The event is free and exclusively for military veterans, active duty service members, and their guests. Service members must provide proof of service through the ID.me platform, and may register for a pair of tickets.

Civilians can attend by sponsoring a military ticket by making a donation at donate.aitaf.org/broadwaytickets2022.

Larger corporate sponsorships are available by contacting Nicole Davis, Philanthropic Partnerships Director, davis@aitaf.org

About Arts in the Armed Forces

Arts in the Armed Forces was founded by Academy Award-nominated actor and Marine Adam Driver (Star Wars, BlacKkKlansman, Marriage Story) and actor Joanne Tucker in 2008, and its mission is to honor and enrich the lives of the US military community by offering powerful shared experiences in theater and film. Featuring professional artists and contemporary American content, AITAF creates space for meaningful dialogue, igniting connection and deepening our capacity for understanding around our common humanity.

AITAF's core program consists of bringing play readings presented by professional actors and actresses to military installations all over the world, free of charge. While on base, AITAF team members also take time to train in the specialty of the installation, so there is a true exchange between the artists and service members. Importantly, after each of AITAF's performances, the creative team interacts with the audience through a question and answer session as well as a more informal mingling period.

Past participants have included Jon Batiste, Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Glover, Keegan-Michael Key, Tom Hanks, Laura Linney, Jonathan Majors, Mark Ruffalo, Keri Russell, Michael Shannon, John Turturro, and Pauletta Washington just to name a few.

AITAF began programming with one event in 2008, and by 2022, has reached over 18,000 members of our military. In 2018, arts programming expanded beyond live play readings to include film screenings and an annual $10,000 playwriting and screenwriting award for military and veteran writers called The Bridge Award. In 2020, in the face of COVID-19 restrictions, AITAF pivoted temporarily to produce its film screening series virtually.

About FAT HAM:

Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, FAT HAM by James Ijames had its first in-person performance in New York as a co-production between The Public Theater and National Black Theatre, directed by The Public's Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director, Saheem Ali in 2022.

In 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. It feels like a familiar story to Juicy, well-versed in Hamlet's woes. What's different is Juicy himself, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man trying to break the cycles of trauma and violence in service of his own liberation. From an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.

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