Fat Ham is a dramaticstage play written by American playwrightJames Ijames. It is a modern-day adaptation ofWilliam Shakespeare'sHamlet.

The play was awarded the 2022Pulitzer Prize for Drama^[1][2][3] and was nominated for fiveTony Awards includingBest Play.

Juicy, a young gay black man, is confronted by the ghost of his father during a cookout, who demands that Juicy avenge his murder. Juicy, already familiar withHamlet's plight, tries to break the cycles of trauma and violence.

The play premiered on April 23, 2021 in a filmed production for theWilma Theater inPhiladelphia. The digital production was available until May 23.^[4]

It made itsoff-Broadway debut atThe Public Theater on May 12, 2022,^[5] to overwhelmingly positive reviews.^[6] The production received a Special Citation at the 66thObie Awards honoring the creative team and ensemble. In 2023, the Public Theater production transferred to Broadway with the entire cast and most of the creative team intact. Previews began at theAmerican Airlines Theatre on March 21, with opening night on April 12. The production once again received widespread critical acclaim^[7] and fiveTony Award nominations, includingBest Play andBest Director of a Play.^[8] The Broadway production was originally scheduled to have a strictly limited run through June 25, 2023.^[9] The run was extended through July 2, 2023,^[10] subsequently closing on that date.

The play had its West Coast premiere in spring 2024 with a production at theGeffen Playhouse, based on the Public Theater production. Sideeq Heard recreated Saheem Ali's direction, having served as Associate Director for the Broadway mounting. Most of the Broadway cast reprised their roles, with Matthew Elijah Webb taking over as Larry after understudying the role on Broadway.^[11]

In June 2024 The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California produced the play featuring a new cast under the direction of Sideeq Heard.Fat Ham ran at theOregon Shakespeare Festival from March 11 to June 27, 2025, directed by Elizabeth Carter.^[12] The 2025 South Florida Premiere Production directed by T.M. Pride, ran from April 4 through May 4 at Island City Stage in Wilton Manors and May 16-June 15 at GableStage in Coral Gables.

The Public Theater/Broadway production made itsUK premiere with theRoyal Shakespeare Company at theSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 15 August until 13 September 2025, directed by Sideeq Heard.^[13]

• Official website
• Fat Ham at IBDB
• New York Times review

• 2022 plays
• African-American plays
• Broadway plays
• LGBTQ-related plays
• Off-Broadway plays
• Plays and musicals based on Hamlet
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning works

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata