"Fat Ham" at San Francisco Playhouse

San Francisco Playhouse presents the Northern California Premiere of 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham. Playwright James Ijames turns William Shakespeare’s Hamlet on its head in this piping hot play that transports the drama to a modern-day barbecue in the American South. Queer Black college kid Juicy longs to break his crazy family’s cycle of trauma and violence when his father’s ghost demands Juicy avenge his murder. With family feuds and a dance party on the menu, this delectably irreverent, poignant play explores legacy and identity, love and loss, as well as pain and joy. Making its World Premiere in a filmed production presented by Wilma Theater, Fat Ham received the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama ahead of its in-person premiere Off-Broadway at The Public Theater. The production transferred to Broadway in 2023, where it was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Play. The New York Times hailed the show as “hilarious yet profound. It is the rare takeoff that actually takes off — and then flies in its own smart direction.” The Wrap called it “the most fun you'll have at any play this Broadway season” and Deadline lauded it as “a delicious and irresistible piece of work. Sweet, saucy, and very funny, Fat Ham has enough good-time disco sparkle to win over all but the grumpiest of spirits.” Bay Area theatre titan Margo Hall, who directed the Playhouse’s [hieroglyph], Barbecue, Red Velvet, The Story, and most recently Nollywood Dreams, returns to direct.