Fat Ham review: The juiciest parts of Hamlet smothered in comedy and pathos
8 / 10
Which is why Fat Ham feels so fresh and clever. Ijames could have easily transposed Hamlet beat by beat, or pulled a Baz Luhrmann and have his modern-day characters speak in Iambic pentameter (a couple of monologues notwithstanding). But Ijames' characters are as American as pulled pork and baby back ribs, which emphasizes the universality of Shakespeare's work. The credo of Fat Ham is that famous quote about being true to thine own self. That advice was given to Laertes, not Hamlet, who probably could've used it. Juicy, however, follows it to a tee. To take one of the most definitive and hallowed works in English literature and retell it as a comedy about a young, thicc, queer Black boy in the South is revolutionary in its own way, but like 'A Fifth of Beethoven,' there's a bit of a novelty to Fat Ham, which may say more about the culture in which we live than the play itself.
