Photos: First Look At The PlayMakers Repertory Company Production Of FAT HAM

When Fat Ham opens at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill this week, it will be the first time an audience sees the Pulitzer Prize-winning show on a North Carolina Stage.

Check out photos below!

PlayMakers was one of the first regional theaters in the country to get the rights to produce Fat Ham, while it was still playing on Broadway. The show marks a homecoming of sorts for playwright James Ijames, who is originally from the Tar Heel State.

A modern take on Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet, dramaturg TJ Young says the exploration of familial relationships and identity are timeless.

“This backyard is where the past meets the present, often colliding and refracting each other, before exploding into a celebration of acceptance and femininity,” Young says.

“The question of will a murder take place still remains, but it is woven with explorations of masculinity, sexuality, softness, and joy.”

The PlayMakers’ production is directed by Jade King Carroll (Trouble in Mind, PlayMakers) and stars resident company member Heinley Gaspard (Hamlet, PlayMakers) as Juicy

Joining Gaspard are PlayMakers company members Samuel Ray Gates (Fairview, Woolly Mammoth), Kathryn Hunter-Williams (Hamlet, PlayMakers), Nate John Mark (Party People, Actors Theatre), Jamar Jones (The Prom, Theatre Raleigh), and Mengwe Wapimewah (Much Ado About Nothing, PlayMakers). Rasool Jahan (Hamlet, PlayMakers) also returns to PlayMakers for Fat Ham.

The creative team includes resident scenic designer and costume designer Sabrina Guillaume-Bradshaw, sound designer Derek A. Graham, and resident movement coach Tracy Bersley.

The PlayMakers Repertory Company production of Fat Ham opens Saturday, February 3, and runs through February 18. For information and to purchase tickets, call 919.962.7529 or visit www.playmakersrep.org. Individual ticket prices start at $20.