As Black History Month unfolds, we celebrate the enduring legacy of African American voices in theater. From True Colors Theatre to the Birmingham Black Repertory Theatre Collective, organizations across the nation honor the depth and diversity of Black culture through captivating performances and thought-provoking dialogue. Join us as we spotlight the remarkable contributions of Black artists, directors, and storytellers who continue to shape the theatrical landscape with their resilience, creativity, and commitment to social justice.
True Colors Theatre
Atlanta Theater and Black Plays | Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre
In honor of Black History Month, True Colors Theatre continues its tradition of amplifying Black voices through powerful productions that explore the African American experience. Led by the esteemed director Jamil Jude, True Colors Theatre showcases a repertoire of Black plays that provoke thought, inspire dialogue, and celebrate the richness of Black culture.
Ballethnic
Ballethnic, a trailblazing organization at the intersection of ballet and African dance traditions, pays homage to Black history and heritage through its captivating performances. With a commitment to diversity and inclusion, Ballethnic uses dance as a medium to honor the contributions of Black artists and storytellers throughout history.
IKAM Productions
https://ikamproductions.com/info/
IKAM Productions, known for its innovative storytelling and commitment to social justice, dedicates its efforts during Black History Month to highlighting stories of resilience, resistance, and triumph within the Black community. Through theater productions that tackle pressing issues and amplify underrepresented voices, IKAM Productions shines a spotlight on the untold stories of Black history.
Theatrical Outfit
Theatrical Outfit | Conversations That Matter In Downtown Atlanta
Theatrical Outfit, situated in downtown Atlanta, uses its platform to host conversations that matter, particularly during Black History Month. Through thought-provoking performances, panel discussions, and community events, Theatrical Outfit fosters dialogue around race, identity, and social justice, honoring the legacy of Black leaders and changemakers.
Atlanta Black Theatre Festival
The Atlanta Black Theatre Festival serves as a vital platform for celebrating Black theatrical excellence during Black History Month and beyond. Through a diverse lineup of performances, workshops, and events, the festival showcases the talent and creativity of Black playwrights, directors, and performers, while also providing opportunities for networking and professional development.
New African Grove Theatre Company
ABOUT US | new-african-grove (newafricangrove.com)
New African Grove Theatre Company, founded to honor the legacy of African American playwrights, dedicates its Black History Month programming to staging productions that celebrate the contributions of Black theater artists throughout history. With a focus on promoting diversity and inclusivity in the arts, New African Grove Theatre Company continues to inspire and empower audiences through the transformative power of theater.
Youth Ensemble of Atlanta
Welcome to the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta – Home
The Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, dedicated to nurturing the next generation of performers, uses Black History Month as an opportunity to spotlight the achievements and contributions of Black artists in theater. Through educational programs, workshops, and performances, the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta celebrates the legacy of Black theater and empowers young artists to tell their own stories aligning with Alliance Theatres values.
Amanda Washington, Assoc. Artistic Director, Actors Express
About Us – Actor’s Express (actors-express.com)
Amanda Washington (washingtonamanda.com)
Amanda Washington, Assoc. Artistic Director of Actors Express, honors Black History Month by curating a diverse lineup of productions that celebrate the Black experience and uplift underrepresented voices. Through her work at Actors Express and beyond, Washington amplifies the voices of Black playwrights and artists ensuring their stories are heard and celebrated.
Birmingham Black Repertory Theatre Collective
The Birmingham Black Repertory Theatre Collective (thebbrtc.com)
The Birmingham Black Repertory Theatre Collective commemorates Black History Month by staging productions that reflect the richness and diversity of the Black experience. With a commitment to amplifying marginalized voices and promoting social change through theater, the collective continues to make a significant impact on the cultural landscape of Birmingham and beyond.
As Black History Month draws to a close, we extend our gratitude to the trailblazing organizations and individuals who have enriched our lives with their powerful narratives and transformative performances. May we carry the spirit of celebration, reflection, and solidarity with us throughout the year, amplifying Black voices and supporting the ongoing journey towards equality and inclusion in the arts.
Alliance Theatre makes ‘Tale of Two Cities’ accessible and relevant (ajc.com)
There are those who read Charles Dickens devotedly and consider him one of the greatest novelists the world has ever known.
And there are those who perhaps encounter him in school on a required reading list who consider navigating his wordy, old-fashioned prose to be like stumbling through the dark alleyways of a Victorian London slum without a candle.
Both groups may find common ground at the Alliance Theatre in coming weeks as it launches the world premiere of a brisk, stripped-down remix of “A Tale of Two Cities,” Dickens’ classic tale about the upper and lower classes in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution.
“When folks hear ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ they tend to think of it as associated with homework, something not necessarily entertaining,” says Chris Moses, co-artistic director of the Alliance. “But what (playwright) Brendan Pelsue has created with this piece is going to be riveting, thrilling and funny.”
Funny Dickens? Absolutely, says director Leora Morris, who points out the original novel has scenes of comic relief sprinkled into the life-or-death stories of the main characters and the pointed commentary about economic inequality. In rehearsals recently, the cast has been discovering hints of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the Muppets and “The Princess Bride” in Pelsue’s approach.
“The tone shifts back and forth between this melodramatic love story, a political satire and then these moments of silliness,” Morris says.
That’s in keeping with the Alliance’s Classic Remix program, which wants to theatrically blow the dust off great works of literature and present them to high school students as well as the traditional Alliance audience as part of its main season. (All tickets for teens are just $10.)
The Alliance started the program in 2018 and first presented “Seize the King,” a remix of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” Pelsue’s “Tale,” billed as a “radical re-imagining,” was commissioned by the Alliance in 2020, just as COVID-19 was shutting down the theater world, and so his adaptation has been “germinating” (his word) for four years.
“We were looking for something that addressed the concerns of the world we’re living in now, around inequality, representation, questions of violence and what happens when those enter politics,” Pelsue says. “But we were also looking for something that wasn’t about our time and place.
“According to some reports a young person born into poverty here in Atlanta has a little over a 3% chance of escaping poverty,” says Moses. “So, we thought this would be a really interesting way to open up that conversation in the context of Dickens’ story.”
“Tale” was originally published in 1859 in 31 weekly installments in Dickens’ literary magazine, called All the Year Round. It’s among his shortest novels, less than half the page count of “David Copperfield” and many others, but it’s still jammed with characters and plot.
Pelsue, who has an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and received the Weston Prize in playwriting, began by mapping out all those people and plot points on large sheets of paper.
“That helps you see what the actual spine is and what are appendages,” he says. “A lot of the work is snipping out the appendages.”
The novel is rife with “doubling”: characters who look almost identical (leading to mistaken identities) and characters who are mirror images of one another in the social order. That led Pelsue early on to the decision to have actors play multiple roles. Eight actors (Grant Chapman, Tiffany Hobbs, Tess Malis Kincaid, Joe Knezevich, Louis Reyes McWilliams, Lee Osorio, Brad Raymond and Stephen Ruffin) play 54 different characters, which also helps keep the production cost down.
This kind of multi-role casting is well-established, although maybe not to this degree, from the Alliance’s traditional mounting of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit “Hamilton,” which also shares a similar DNA of trying to make history feel contemporary and even a bit playful
The multiple roles and the vast class differences among the characters have led the actors and director Morris to wax philosophical during the recent weeks of rehearsals at the Alliance.
“I always feel like, when I’m working on a Brendan play, there is this real question of how is space going to work and how is time going to work?” says Morris.
“How much are we disappearing into the imaginary circumstances and when are we kind of pulling all the way back out and really being together in the theater and aware of the theatricality of everything?
“So it’s not simply like, here is a troupe of actors putting on a play that is asking you to participate as an audience. It feels a little bit more enigmatic than that.”
As they rehearsed, the cast discussed a poem titled “Please Call Me By My True Names” by the Buddhist writer and philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh.
“It’s about being the frog in the water that eats the fish but also being the snake on the shore that eats the frog, if that makes sense,” Morris says.
Meanwhile, in the nuts and bolts of the real stage, there are no frogs or snakes, just eight actors frantically changing clothes over two hours. The logistics, largely figured out during rehearsals, include some character transformations occurring onstage in plain view. An actor might complete a scene, step to one side, turn a coat inside out, put on a hat, and step forward as a different character starting a new scene.
The rhythm of the scene changes begins slowly, director Morris explains, and “then there is some momentum that builds. The scenes get shorter and shorter as it goes on, and they start to overlap like a runaway train.”
“Tale” even includes a little audience interaction. “There are moments in the script where Brendan has included the audience as a part of the mob,” says Moses, “asking for a vocal response from the audience.” After all, the unslakable voice of the mob was an important part of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution.
Since the Alliance started Classic Remixes to bring students to literary works in the theater, it’s appropriate that Pelsue was a high school literature teacher before he became a playwright.
“Part of my job as a teacher is not to tell you what to think,” he says, “but to invite you into the conversation about the questions being asked. Any time you can leave the theater asking big questions, that’s a great evening.”
Following the original rendition of this classic Charles Dickens tale, various adaptations have emerged, each exploring the contrasting themes of the best and worst of times, as depicted in the tale. A classic love triangle, a hefty power gap, and an overdue revolution; tying into the prominent message of oppression, hope, and sacrifice that Dickens was trying to convey. Since the original 1859 release, many editions have been released, from films, to eBooks, to multiple onstage productions. What sets this production apart from others is its unique blend of entertainment and relevance to the fabric of Atlanta’s contemporary climate, producing a deeper connection between the stage and the pace of the city. A Tale of Two Cities is just one of many creations that gives the Alliance an opportunity to do just that. This season, the theater constructed its very own impression of the well-known tale, incorporating a twist through its unique character portrayal, featuring eight actors playing multiple roles, providing a dynamic perspective on the powerful and powerless.
Within this adaptation, there are multiple elements that deem it unique, beginning with the portrayal of the characters themselves. There are eight actors who will be seen throughout the production, each of them playing multiple roles, some with just four, and some with as many as eleven. With over fifty characters in this single production, this allows an even bigger window for actors to stretch far and beyond to present this highly dynamic piece. Each individual actor’s roles include an opportunity for them to hold a position of power and a position of powerlessness. Both renditions travel back in time to the mid- to late-1700s, taking place during the duration of the French Revolution, which happens to be the prime mover of the plot. This setting automatically sets the tone for the piece, the dynamic between characters, and the overall booming chaos that occurred during that period.
Another main element incorporated with this rendition that separates it from others and makes it much more amusing is the audience interactivity that is involved. The audience is occasionally intertwined throughout the show, making them a fun addition to the characters and show’s overall dynamic. With this addition, the actors break the fourth wall, inviting the audience to have a vocal reaction to the action happening onstage.
As previously stated, the Alliance has a particular goal of relating their productions to the raw realities we face today. With instances of unjust laws and complete disregard for the wellbeing of the poor population, these themes are somewhat parallel to what occurs in the real world of the current America and, if we dissect even further, we see a lot of it specifically in Atlanta. In fact, Atlanta has one of the worst income equalities in the entire nation and, statistically, a person who is born into poverty only has a 4% chance of escaping it. The modern-day working class are often disregarded and treated unjustly in the workforce, which is demonstrated within the production by the mistreatment towards the servants from those in power.
As you dive into the harsh and realistic world of A Tale of Two Cities, take note of what you observe. Which themes stand out to you? How do you personally connect them to the real world? Give yourself a chance to discover the underlying concepts of the best and worst of times.
When brainstorming the feature piece for the playbill for A Tale of Two Cities, I knew I wanted to speak to two of the brilliant minds behind this adaptation — Director Leora Morris and Playwright Brendan Pelsue. I sent them the questions I’d come up with, intending for them to send me their answers, then I’d work it into an article like I usually do. Leora emailed back, asking if she could instead use the questions to spark a conversation between her and Brendan. What follows below is the entirety of that incredible conversation, exclusive to the Alliance Theatre Blog. – Ashley Elliott
Director Leora Morris: Hi, Brendan.
Playwright Brendan Pelsue: Hi, Leora.
Leora: Hello. Here we go.
Brendan: Yes, yes we do.
Leora: Before you began this process of adapting A Tale of Two Cities, what was your relationship to the story?
Brendan: I had read it in high school. In France, actually, where I was doing an exchange. And after we read it, we walked all around Paris to look at sites related to the Revolution. And I really enjoyed it at the time but had not thought about it much since.
Leora: When you read it as a high school student, do you remember what your impressions were of the story? Or what stood out to you about the themes, characters, events, or language?
Brendan: Yes. I remember the drama of the language being quite exciting. […] It was really a page turner once it got going. And I remember being quite bored by the romance sequences, though whether that has to do with Dickens or with me at fourteen, I don’t know. I was much more connected to the love story in Great Expectations, which we read that same year.
Leora: So fast forward 20 years or so to when the Alliance asked you to adapt it – what made you feel compelled to return to it, and what were your first questions when you started to think about the adaptation?
Brendan: Great question. I think, when I saw the list of books the Alliance was considering working with for its remix program, some unconscious part of my brain new that A Tale of Two Cities could be right for what the initiative was trying to do – and for high school audiences and for our political moment. So I cracked open the book again, and I was struck not only by Dickens narrative power – the story really moves like a bunch of freight trains – but also about how the story was asking us to think about questions of violence and justice and revenge in a way that I don’t quite think of as a trait in Dickens. People in his other novels are horribly exploited and the world is unjust, yes, but there is not that sense that it is all going to burn down in violent conflagration. What I found in A Tale of Two Cities were questions similar to those found in Greek Tragedy: What do we with the fact that wrongs are done to us (or done in the world) that make us (a general us) want to seek violent revenge – that there are things for which violence seems like the only possible redress? How do we deal with the fact that history has piled up all these injustices? Can we ever start from scratch? What’s exciting and what’s terrifying about revolution?
Which is another way of saying, the story of the French Revolution felt scarily and, from an artistic perspective, excitingly close to our moment, and the fact that Dickens was approach this territory with a kind of Greek, tragic, clear-sightedness (though also with all his usual coincidences and embroidery) felt bold and energizing in ways I never would have clocked when I read the novel back in high school.
Leora: I just want to keep asking you questions because this is so rich! You could have chosen to tell this story in so many different ways – but you very intentionally created an ensemble of 8 actors that play many different characters. While doubling is not an uncommon theatrical convention, here you are taking advantage of the way theatre can allow us to layer different characters onto one body. Can you talk about how this doubling is at work in the play? What it reveals, challenges, or invites us to consider?
Brendan: Indeed, I can. And I think there are a few answers to the question – aesthetic, philosophical, practical.
When I teach playwriting, I also try to get my students to see theater as an art form with gifts and limits – it embodies, it’s durational, it’s live – that make it different from film, or novels, or painting. To me, some of the most exciting plays use theater’s limits as gifts. And since I knew that I was not writing the major motion picture version of this story […], I started to think about how telling the story with a limited number of actors – of human bodies – could be useful.
Then I started thinking about how doubling is already woven into Dicken’s story […] and this felt theatrical to me. And as I dug deeper, I began to feel like the entire 18th century – in England and in France – was theatrical: You were born into a particular role (peasant, say, or Marquis, King, or bourgeois) and that was pretty much where you stayed. Society cast you in a role through the accident of your birth, and from there you negotiated the given circumstances, which is like acting. And this somehow made me think about an idea from the philosopher John Rawls, who talks in his book On Justice about the idea of a veil of ignorance, which is basically that in a good society you would ask yourself: If you could [re-roll the dice and] be born into any position in a society (if there were a 99% chance you would be a French peasant and a 0.001% chance you could be a French king), would you take the risk?
And it felt like there was, somehow, a nexus between all these things that led to doubling as it works in this particular version of the story.
Also, actually, there are some very strange passages in the book where Dickens talks about the transmigration of souls (he is more spiritual and weirder than we sometimes imagine him to be) and this made me wonder if there was something about a kind of multiplicity of identities – a fluid idea of self – that was important to this telling.
Leora: What I really admire about this choice and the way it works in the adaptation it that it allows [us] to ask these big questions about fate, social mobility, the spectrum of wealth to poverty, and the role of the individual in impacting the course of history (and more) without translocating it in time and space. It’s not [set] in contemporary Atlanta, but it feels to me like it has the potential to speak directly to Atlantans about the experience of being born, growing up, or living here – and into our current time. Did you think about Atlanta specifically when working on it? Did you take the city and its landscape or history into consideration at all?
Brendan: I would say I had to approach the idea of Atlanta somewhat obliquely while writing the play. I am not from Atlanta – I grew up in New England – so I know the city’s history through school, reading, research, and conversations related to this piece, but it’s not something I carry with me every day. But I do think I thought a great deal about the state of the country and of the world while writing the piece. And I think my greatest aspiration was that the material for the piece would act as a kind of kaleidoscope – that people from many cities with many specific histories could which this story set in Paris and think, “Oh, that’s like where I live!” Until they had a moment where they thought, “Oh, that is not like where I live.” Because I think on some level it’s that combination of alienation and identification that is the reason to keep returning to a “classic,” whatever that is. It’s not that the piece imparts some wisdom, that people in the past knew more than we did – they didn’t. It’s that by seeing how this vision of the world, this history, this way of imagining what it is interacts with our own we are forced to ask ourselves: What is our vision of the world, of history, of what it is to be a human being? We have to encounter it actively to encounter it all. And that, to me, is always exciting.
I suppose also, from an outsider’s perspective, there is something epic about Atlanta. And something that has to do deeply with America. It’s the home of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement. It’s a city that was burned to the ground in the Civil War. A city that has seen disasters and nurtured ideas that shape the world – sort of like Paris. Maybe that was somewhere deep in my mind – though, like I said, I really have an outsider’s lens on those histories, and would not want to claim I was speaking for them or about them in this adaptation.
Leora: I mean, interestingly, Dickens was also an outsider. He lived in London but he was born in 1812 and [was] writing about a London and a Paris that existed before his life and about events he did not experience or witness. So there’s also this kaleidoscopic conversation happening among all of you. You, from New England now, adapting a text by a British novelist from the 19th century, writing about a revolution in another city in the 18th century. I’m sure we feel those ripples or fractals at play somehow. And I’m sure people who know this history or this book will have a particular experience, but as someone who really hadn’t studied the French Revolution or read this book before working on this play, I’m struck by the fact that it’s also totally awesome to just show up and encounter the play as its entirely own thing. For someone with no relationship to the source material or events, is there anything specific you hope they take away from the experience?
Brendan: Yes! No preparatory reading or knowledge required to enjoy the show! I suppose I have been talking about the threads that were at work in my own imagination more than what I am hoping an audience receives.
My hope for anyone coming to the play is, first, that they just have that edge-of-your-seat feeling of a really good yarn. Dickens is amazing at that, and it was a privilege to work with his narrative gifts. And then I hope they leave thinking, Whoa, what was all that? And talking to their neighbor about why the events of the story turned out the way they did, if it all could have been different, even chewing over echoes and differences with our current moment.
What I am in no way interested in doing is providing a kind of history lesson on 18th century France. This is not the kind of show where you feel like you could pass a test afterwards. It’s a show where you get swept along. Or so I hope.
Leora: Okay, great. I want to pick up on that and ask you to unpack that in a different way. What are five adjectives you think people probably think of when they think theatrical production of A Tale of Two Cities that don’t apply to this production, and five adjectives that you hope [they] really do.
Brendan: Ooh. Okay, adjectives that don’t apply: Fusty, hard to follow, quaint, British, breeches (actually a noun). Five adjectives that do: Scary, funny, argumentative, gripping, spiritual.
Leora: Nice. I was wondering if “goofy” was going to make the cut. Okay, last question for you. (Maybe.) You made a bunch of really specific offers in the script about the material/items in the world, among other things, a mirror, a giant ball of yarn, a guillotine, a moon. As the creative team has gone through the process of creating the design for the show, what has surprised you about the ways in which these offers you made have been taken up or transformed?
Brendan: Mostly I would say I am so happy about how eagerly and beautifully the design team has tackled these propositions I’ve made in the script. One of the great joys of being a playwright is that I get to imagine things in the visual world, in the aural world, in the world of clothes, and architecture, and light, and then have people with capacities far beyond my own find containers for these impulses that I never could have anticipated.
But I would say, specifically, I have been really excited by the way the team has been inventing a kind of cosmos, a small planet or universe, in which it feels like the story is told. You’re so rigorous in getting us all to attend to what the script is asking, and I think we can really see that in this design that feels both estranging and recognizable – that creates a planet we all visit, which in the way is always the experience of telling and retelling a story.
Leora: Amazing; thank you, Brendan. I’m wondering if (a) there’s a detail from the design that you think audiences would appreciate having a heads up about, or knowing to look out for, and then (b) if there’s anything about my work on this show as a director that would open up anything for the audience in a useful way, before they watch it?
Brendan: For design – there is a moon. I love the moon, and I love being outdoors, and I love when theater does not forget there is a world beyond our making. And I would love to invite audiences to share that excitement with me.
For you, Leora, I guess I am curious about two things. (a) How your understanding of the piece, both its themes but also its container, has changed for you as you’ve worked on it, and (b) how you think of the play as relating to Atlanta (a city you know better than I) and to our current moment, globally? Also, which parts are most fun?
Leora: I’m going to start with the most fun, although it’s a bit theoretical because we haven’t started rehearsals yet [at the time of this interview]. But, for me, a lot of the moments of theatrical fun (the moments where we get to take pleasure and have fun with the magic of theatre) are also moments where the world is actually most menacing or dread-filled or dangerous for the characters […] and then there’s also the moments of just outright silliness.
In terms of my growing understanding of the piece, I very much relate to your description of the power of returning to a story again and again, and I feel like, as this development process has unfolded, what’s been happening in the world at any given moment has surfaced different threads of the play in different ways, or with a different kind of urgency. At one point the text mentions wars, plagues, tyrants, violence in the streets, and love … and as the months have gone by, each one of those things has really become the container in which we are all living our lives, the beast we must all be reckoning with, or the primary force at work inside us as individuals. It’s been a valuable and terrifying reminder that even the things that don’t feel possible or likely in our time and place in history are waiting right there and could come back at any time (and also, probably, for someone, somewhere else in the world, those things – and others – are happening). I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the sentence “the lip of history” and this idea that every moment spills into the next one.
In building the container [of the story], I was surprised to discover how fixed we needed the elements of the world to be. These actors are dealing with the theatrical hand the production has dealt. They are alive inside this playground that they didn’t create but exist in. And while they take characters on and off in a way that we don’t get to in our real lives, those garments and fates go on and off within a very prescribed (and strange) world. And there’s something about the strangeness of the theatrical space that reminds me that our world seems like the only way a world could be .. but it leaves me wondering how much more would be possible if one thing in one “lip of history” moment had gone differently. How the chain reaction of history could have (and could still) lead us somewhere we can’t even imagine or recognize. That all sounds very Charles Darnay.
In terms of Atlanta, I was also an outsider when I moved here. I arrived here and fell in love with its aliveness, its heart, the pulse of the city, its incredible diversity. And also wondered at its extremes, and its many, many contradictions. Now I am back to being a visitor to and not a citizen of this city, but I hope this production invites citizens of Atlanta to bring all the many (contradicting) parts of themselves and potentially contradicting views of their city to the story and see what it can reveal.
Last thing, Brendan. On this day, what’s one line of text that’s really in your head/heart?
Brendan: I was thinking about the line about Louis’s transformation from king, to citizen, to prisoner, to murdered corpse. I am not sure why. You?
Leora: “The man who began life as heir to the throne looks out at his people and realizes he is like them – he can suffer.” I think for me, it’s still “the lip of history.” I love that there’s no subject in this sentence. It’s a naming of something so big we don’t even get located inside it as individuals.
Learn more about A Tale of Two Cities.
Pictured (left to right): Marshall W. Mabry IV, Lau’rie Roach, James T. Alfred, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, David J. Castillo, Thomika Bridwell, and Victoria Omoregie.
Alliance Theatre in association with The Huntington and Front Porch Arts Collective announces the cast and creative team of Fat Ham, the acclaimed new play written by James Ijames and directed by Tony Award-nominated Stevie Walker-Webb. The production runs from April 3 — May 12 on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance.
In this deliciously funny, Pulitzer Prize-winning new play, sweet and sensitive Juicy wants to make his own way as a queer Black man growing up in a Southern family, until his father’s ghost turns up at a backyard barbecue and insists that Juicy avenge his murder. Ay, there’s the rub!
“James Ijames’ brilliant, hilarious play is Hamlet and is not Hamlet,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “This is the beginning of our rigorous exploration of the classics – powerful stories that continue to speak to us – as re-dreamt for our time. In Ijames’ deft hands this exploration of masculinity, queerness, and familial acceptance boasts of muscular language, emotional truth, and the wildly entertaining foibles of family.”
This smart and sharp reinvention of Shakespeare’s masterpiece premiered in a filmed production for the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in 2021 before making its Off Broadway debut at the Public Theater the following year. The play won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and in spring of 2023, the Public Theater transferred their production to Broadway where it received five Tony Award nominations and even more critical acclaim. The New York Times called it “Hot and sizzling! A raucous, flat-out hilarious comedy! Fat Ham is a revelation!”
“I am very excited for Fat Ham to meet the audiences in Boston,” says playwright James Ijames. “The play has a powerful message of transformation, radical acceptance, and joy! This show is for anyone looking for a space of liberation and beauty.”
The cast of Fat Ham includes:
James T. Alfred as Rev, Tedra’s husband, her dead ex-husband’s brother, a kind of Claudius. And also as Pap, the Ghost of Juicy’s father. Credits include the national tour of Jitney and Black Odyssey Off Broadway.
David J. Castillo as Larry, an awkward marine with a secret, a kind of Laertes. Credits include: Edward II at Actors’ Shakespeare Project and the Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Thomika Marie Bridwell as Rabby, Larry and Opal’s mother, Tedra’s friend, a kind of Polonius. Credits include Joy and Pandemic and K-I-S-S-I-N-G (in co-production with Front Porch Arts Collective) at The Huntington, and Chicken and Biscuits at Front Porch Arts Collective.
Marshall W. Mabry IV as Juicy, beautiful, lonely, and smart; a kind of Hamlet. Credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Harlem at Pittsburgh Public and Once on this Island at SpeakEasy Stage. Marshall was also a participant in Alliance Theatre’s Palefsky Collision Project in their high school years.
Lau’rie Roach as Tio, Juicy’s clever cousin and oldest friend, a kind of Horatio. Credits include Toni Stone at Alliance Theatre and Milwaukee Rep, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at Alliance Theatre.
Victoria Omoregie as Opal, one of Juicy’s only friends, a kind of Ophelia. Victoria was a winner of the August Wilson Monologue Competition with The Huntington’s education department. Other credits include Fairview at SpeakEasy Stage and The Bomb-Itty of Errors at Actors’ Shakespeare Project.
Ebony Marshall-Oliver as Tedra, Juicy’s mother, a kind of Gertrude. Credits include Ain’t No Mo’ and Chicken and Biscuits on Broadway, and Merry Wives at the Public Theater.
The creative team for Fat Ham includes scenic design by Luciana Stecconi (Witch and The Art of Burning at The Huntington), costume design by Celeste Jennings (Malvolio at Classical Theatre of Harlem), lighting design by Xiangfu Xiao (The Diamond at Pregones/PRTT), sound design by Aubrey Dube (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Clyde’s at The Huntington), hair and wig design by Earon Nealey (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at The Huntington), and illusions design by Evan Northrup (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at The Huntington). The choreographer is PJ Johnnie Jr, dialect coach is Amani Dorn, and the fight choreographer and intimacy coach is Jesse Hinson. The associate director is Dawn M. Simmons. The production stage manager is R. Lamar Williams.
It can be assumed that Shakespeare wrote his plays, with the intention of making those who read and viewed them feel seen. For centuries he’s made us laugh, he’s made us cry, and most importantly…he’s made us question. But as time moves onward, and our societies change, how does Shakespeare continue to stay relevant? Fat Ham continues this legacy by bringing the structure and elements of Shakespeare’s Hamlet into the 21st century.
Fat Ham tells the story of Juicy, a young, queer black man trying to understand who he is and where his place is in the world. As if that is not hard enough, he is also dealing with the grappling reality that he may have to kill his uncle to avenge his father’s death. Even crazier, his father has been appearing to him as a ghost. Sound familiar? While Fat Ham and Hamlet are two very different shows from two vastly different periods, their messaging is one and the same. By taking one of Shakespeare’s greatest works and diversifying it, James Ijames has given powerful representation to the black queer community.
Despite the strides that we have made as a society, there is still so much work to be done. The black queer community is one that is often overlooked, and underrepresented. Fat Ham proves that the word “classic” doesn’t have to mean “forever the same”. In fact, the word classic is defined as “a work of art of recognized and established value”. What could be more valuable than telling a story that makes one feel seen and represented?
Evolution is inevitable, and the truest way to stay relevant is to continue to change with the times. Shakespeare’s work has remained so well respected because artists like James Ijames saw what it could be, rather than focusing on what it already was. Why can’t the setting be the American South, as opposed to a kingdom in Denmark? Who’s to say that Hamlet can’t be a young, queer black man named Juicy? And instead of giving into the violence…what if this Hamlet-like character was trying to break the generational cycle?
The world of theatre is no stranger to the idea of art imitating life. But to accurately imitate life, we must strive to represent all that makes up our society. Hopefully, those who come to experience this production of Fat Ham will feel positively represented. Because, without the beautiful faces of black and queer patrons this show would be nothing. And neither would the world of theatre.
The Counter Narrative Project (CNP) is once again honored to partner with the Alliance Theatre, on Fat Ham. As an organization dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of Black queer men, the themes of the play: queerness, masculinity, fathers and sons, and violence, all resonate deeply with our work. Our hope is that this play inspires brave conversations, and our shared commitment to expanding hearts and minds results in social and narrative change.
So many of us have taken a journey not unlike the character Juicy in the play. In him we see both the cruelty and comedy of life. Perhaps we might, especially growing up in the South, have carried the weight of secrets and shame on our shoulders. And this shame, not unlike Juicy’s father, haunts, harasses, and compels us. But as this stunning play reveals: salvation isn’t just assimilation, it’s also defiance. And even in our darkest moments, we can arrive at the most healing truths by meeting the absurdity of life with the unflinching acceptance of who we are.
Though we may be marginalized by racism, homophobia, and toxic masculinity, we still have our dreams. And as long as we can dream, we can survive.
The significance of a play like Fat Ham, in this historic moment, cannot be overstated. The need for daring artistic works like this one, offers both a reflection of our times, and blueprints for how we can resist. At a time when anti-LGBTQIA+ violence runs rampant, the spread of racism, homophobia, and transphobia, persists, and efforts to censor, marginalize, if not criminalize dissenting voices seems to gain strength; The Counter Narrative Project (CNP) stands firm in our commitment to visibility. We publish The Reckoning, a digital publication elevating Black queer voices; we train advocates and organizers on storytelling strategies; and through partnerships like the wonderful and enduring friendship we have with the Alliance Theatre, we support works like Fat Ham which offer not just an artistic experience, but a defining cultural moment.
Charles Stephens
Executive Director
The Counter Narrative Project
A few weeks into rehearsals, costume designer Celeste Jennings sat down with associate director Dawn M. Simmons to talk about what inspired her creative process on Fat Ham — and how the characters of the play inspire her as well.
Dawn Simmons: (associate director): How did you come into costume design?
Celeste Jennings (costume designer): I didn’t know anything about theater – and especially technical theater – when I was younger. But when I was in undergrad, I was assigned to the costume shop as my work study, because I knew how to sew. It changed my whole life; I experienced what it meant to work in production, be backstage – and understand the entire craft, profession, and magic of costume design.
How did you find your inspiration for Fat Ham?
I have always been the most attracted to Opal, Juicy, and Larry, specifically the way the rebel against their parents. Opal is trying to honor her mom … yet also resist. I really tried to design the show from the perspective of these young people and the ways they have been sheltered by what their parents think they should do or who they should be.
How does your work interact with the themes of the story?
Family, being true to yourself, finding and honoring yourself … That is really beautiful. I would add being rooted in Black Southern life as an important theme to me in these costumes. I’m from Arkansas, and it really felt like home to me to design these characters. I felt like I was shopping for my uncles, making research collages for Rev and Pap; I had my cousins in mind when I’m thinking about Tio, Larry, Juicy, and Opal. It’s always really important to me to put myself in the shoes of the characters and figure out how they want to present themselves. Each of these characters is so intricate, beautiful – and really proud of who they are, even if they are dealing with so much. We’ve had fun in fittings, figuring out what opulence and beauty means for every single one of these characters.
I love that. I don’t know how many folks would know what the fitting process is. Can you talk a little bit about the practicalities of your work?
Fittings are so fun! I love them. Before rehearsals, I sit down and draw sketches of what I think these people look like and what their clothes look like; I have all these ideas – but it means everything and also nothing because then you meet another human being whose job is to act and physically bring these characters to life. I’m always excited about collaborating, being flexible, changing to make sure that the actor feels comfortable. It’s so much more than what is in my imagination. We’re all creating something together.
So in the fitting room, it’s so important to me to have multiple options of what I have on the page. I might have a shirt that looks exactly like what I’ve drawn, but also backup shirts that are maybe a little bit different. I like to have a wild card option, just in case that actually becomes our favorite. We try on a ton of clothes, take our time, and figure out what feels right. At the Huntington, it’s so incredible to have such a large and incredibly talented costume shop. Everyone is a master of their craft, passionate about the work, and so kind. Bringing the play to life here is a dream come true; the design is in such great hands, from my first sketch to final fittings.
What have these characters taught you?
Do you know? More than anything, Opal, Larry, and Juicy have taught me about bravery. I really admire what they’re going through in this play, they experience so many breakthroughs. They are right on the cusp to standing in their light, in the beauty of who they are. In a lot of facets of myself, I still am always trying to figure out how to be my most genuine self. I always want to show up that way, even when it’s scary.
What are you working on next?
Next, I’m designing a show at the Charleston Gaillard Center called Finding Freedom. And I’m also working on a show called Blues in the Night at Alabama Shakespeare Festival