Review: Fat Ham at the RSC

★★★★★

James Ijames’ Pulitzer prize-winning queer comic tragedy, playing at the RSC’s Swan Theatre is a tale of love, loss, liberation and joy that brings Shakespeare’s Hamlet into the modern-day with queer Black stories. Set in the American South, during a backyard barbecue celebration, Juicy – a queer, Black college student – is visited by the ghost of his father. The uninvited guest wants vengeance for his murder.

Putting a unique and fun spin on a familiar story, Fat Ham is an exploration of identity, queerness, and the intersections of Southern, Black and LGBTQ+ identities. The play shines a light on inherited generational trauma, the insecurities of masculinity, and the weight of family expectations; acting as a reminder that your family does not define your personal identity. Pushing back against the harshness of toxic masculinity, murder, and revenge, however, the show is also a love letter to the softness, tenderness and beauty of unapologetic queerness.

Olisa Odele (Big Boys, Chewing Gum, It’s A Sin) plays the central character of Juicy with striking and captivating presence in which the Southern drawl in all its charm and dry wit stands in perfect harmony beside Shakespearean soliloquys. Meanwhile Sule Rimi (Black Earth Rising) is gripping in his menacing performance.

Olisa Odele as Juicy in Fat Ham (Production photo by Ali Wright)

Kieran Taylor-Ford who is making his RSC début as Tio and Sandra Marvin (& Juliet, Sister Act the Musical) as Rabby provide respectively; light, silly reprieve, and drama-fuelled moments of humour. Jasmine Elcock who is also making her RSC début as Opal brings a strong, Sapphic character to the stage, and Andi Osho (Blue Lights, Line of Duty) as Juicy’s mother Tedra is a sharp characterisation of flawed parenthood, overlooking her son’s need for softness.

Corey Montague-Sholay playing Larry is the antithesis of Juicy in his repressed sexuality and familial duty. However, in this play, he will get his sparkling moment in a stunning finale. No spoilers here, you'll just have to wait to ‘see what I see’.

Filled with ghostly apparitions, jump scares, special effects and cleverly-detailed staging, Fat Ham is a real feast for the eyes, running alongside the outstanding script. Repeatedly breaking the stage’s fourth wall, Juicy in particular connects directly with the audience in moments that span from emotional to camp, from comedy born of shade and reading ingrained in queerness, to intelligent nods to Shakespeare’s original text.

Running for a tight 95 minutes, Fat Ham is truly enthralling and consuming from its raucous opening to its glittering end.

Fat Ham plays at the RSC until 13^th September. The lovely team at the RSC are offering Midlands Rainbow readers & followers £20 tickets (Subject to availability). Simply head to the booking page on the website and add the code ‘71730’ in the promo code section at the top of the page and the offer will be automatically applied. Maximum of 4 tickets per booking.

This review was written following a press invite to the production.