Revenge is Mad Hard: Fat Ham and the Question of Cultural Reclamation
Since its digital debut in April of 2021, subsequent Pulitzer win, off-Broadway run, Broadway run, and recent flurry of regional productions, Fat Ham has taken North America by storm. In re-framing the story of Hamlet from within a Black, southern family barbeque, playwright James Ijames has opened the door for questions about cultural authority, the exchange of cultural capital, mediation, storytelling and adaptation methods, the need for increased representation in canonical stories, the methods through which marginalized voices might reclaim cultural capital, and more.