FAT HAM – REVIEW OF 2025 CANADIAN STAGE PRODUCTION AT BERKELEY ST. THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas 

James Ijmas' Ham is a marvellous Pulitzer-winning play that you can catch at the Berkely Street Theatre in a production by Canadian Stage. The title does not refer to unpalatable food from the meat aisle of your grocery store. It refers to Shakespeare’s tragic hero Hamlet who in this play happens to be a generously endowed gay man called Juicy (Peter Fernandes) who is called upon by the ghost of his late father, Pa. (David Alan Anderson) to kill his uncle.

Forget Elsinore because Fat Ham takes place in the backyard in the  eastern U.S. where we find Juicy and his extended family having a barbecue following the wedding of his mother Tedra (Raven Dauda) to his Uncle Rev (David Alan Anderson). We first meet Juicy with his cousin Tio (Tony Ofori) who is absorbed in his cell phone which emits sounds of  heavy breathing and passionate carnal activity. He is watching porn.

If your recollection of the characters in Hamlet is fuzzy, here is a snappy reminder. Tedra is Gertrude, Rev is Claudius, Tio is Horatio, Pap is the Ghost, Opal (Virgilia Griffith) is Ophelia  Larry (Tawiah McCarthy) is Laertes. Rabby (Nehassaiu deGannes) is the mother of Opal and Larry but Shakespeare forgot to include her in his play.   

Back to the beginning Juicy’s  conversation with Tio is interrupted by the appearance of a Ghost and we realize that Fat Ham takes energy from Shakespeare, mimics the characters and spoofs that great play. Although Ijames’ play steals from Shakespeare, Fat Ham has humour and a trajectory of its own. It is a terrific play and entertains us for 90 minutes without an intermission.

L-R: Tawiah M’Carthy, Virgilia Griffith, Peter Fernandes, 

Nehassaiu deGannes, Raven Dauda, David Alan Anderson. Photo: Dahlia Katz 

Juicy is a decent man, a melancholy and depressed gay person who is ordered by his father’s Ghost to kill his Uncle Rev, a restauranteur and a preacher. Rev did not kill his brother directly. Pa was a louse and a murderer and was snuffed while in jail but was everything instigated by Rev? Juicy is studying Human Resources on-line on his desktop (not laptop) computer at a disreputable university. Fernandes dressed in black is superb as a lost and confused soul. He knows Shakepeare’s play and recites parts of several soliloquies and sings for us. 

The three women in the play are sexually alluring, and well-dressed because they are attending the wedding of Rev and Tedra. Raven Dauda as Tedra relishes the exposure of her chest, her short skirt and blonde hair. You may consider her a bit of or, a complete slut. She sings and dances for our amusement. Her first husband was abusive and she turned to his brother for comfort, Dauda does a superb job as Tedra.

Opal is unhappy wearing a dress for Tedra and Rev’s wedding and she is gay. Rabby is a former stripper and ready to display her attributes.

Larry is a smartly dressed, gay and bemedalled soldier with the vocabulary of a preschooler. He develops an interest in his cousin Juicy but is rebuffed. Tio (Tony Ofori) the porn lover is a lovable goof. He insists he is not gay but has some interesting fantasies.

The set by Brandon Kleiman represents a backyard decorated with Christmas lights and streamers with a large, smoking barbecue. It is a wedding day and those that went to the ceremony are dressed for the occasion. It is a festive day except for what happened the week before when Pap was done away with and when the arguments come flying and there is a vigorous fight.

The active atmosphere from physical acts to verbal jousting are handled with precision and sensitivity by director Philip Akin.

Fat Ham is a multi-layered play dealing with a dysfunctional family with many underlying issues. There is wonderful humour but the family manages to descend to a physical free-for-all and, unlike the dead  body-strewn end of Shakespeare’s play, survive.  

A well-done production of a very good play that is worth seeing without any hesitation
 _________________________
FAT HAM by James Ijames continues until March 16, 2025, at the Berkeley St. Theatre, 26 Berkeley St.  Toronto, Ont.  https://www.canadianstage.com/

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press