#james ijames

[andromedia5]

"Is this what grown feels like? Sort of lonely and confused... ghetto as hell." -Fat Ham by James Ijames

[thebrainofmae]

thinking about how hadestown said No answer will be heard to the question no one asks, so I’m asking if it’s true [what they say], and how black sails said If no one remembers a time before there was an England, then no one can imagine a time after it and how Ursula Le Guin said We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings and how fat ham said We just gotta…uh…commit./Why though?/Cause this is a tragedy. We tragic./I’m not and how hadestown said the kingdom will fall for a song and how black sails said They paint the world full of shadows and then tell their children to stay close to the light. Their light. Their reasons, their judgments. Because in the darkness, there be dragons. But it isn't true. We can prove that it isn't true and most of all how Hadestown said It’s a tragedy. But we sing it anyway.

[aliveandfullofjoy]

(The play cracks open into a celebration of the feminine. Maybe Larry lip-syncs to a song sung by someone in love. Maybe Rabby and Tedra drink wine and cackle and dance in their seats. Maybe the old bones of Rev get up and dance with newfound freedom and joy. Maybe Opal throws dollars at Larry. Maybe Tio rolls a blunt. Maybe Juicy is serenaded. Maybe this is all a love song. I don't know how long this should last. I would say it should last long enough for the whole experience to move from something normal to something sublime. Lights burn on until we are all gone... Like stars. That's it.)

Fat Ham, James Ijames

[fresh-coast-reader]

✔️Seventh read of fall 🍁🍂

Fat Ham by James Ijames—A modern take on the Hamlet tragedy that takes on queer relationships and toxic masculinity. Set at a post-wedding barbecue, the main character, Juicy, is faced with the (unrealistic) expectations of his (dead and) abusive father, his (depressed and) desperate mother, and his (abusive and) garbage uncle/step-dad. This one is absolutely hilarious and also a so, so profound and beautiful expression of what it means to grow up with the odds stacked against you. 5🌟

[power-chords]

‘Hamlet Is Mine, Too’

James Ijames’s Fat Ham doesn’t just break the fourth wall — it bulldozes it.

How do you get an audience that has been historically excluded from Broadway to feel welcome at your show? You invite them. You make them feel like they have space. I’ve been paying attention to see if there’s a night when people are not talking to each other, and it hasn’t happened yet. People want to feel like they can kick back and be themselves. The show is giving people permission to do that in the experience of Juicy suddenly looking at you and saying, “What do you think?” Now, you’re like, “Oh, I actually can be responsive to this, because he’s asking me questions. He wants to know what I think, and how do I tell ’em what I think? I laugh, I cry. I go, uh-oh.” That starts to happen the moment they realize that there is no fourth wall.

Why don’t you like the fourth wall? It’s just not as fun. Having no fourth wall allows the world to be bigger. There’s a set of plays where it works really well. Most of Chekhov is great, even though one could make the case that there’s no fourth wall in Chekhov. Ibsen for sure. A Streetcar Named Desire needs the safety of being behind the fourth wall because it goes to some really awful places. So you need that protection.

But there’s no fourth wall in Shakespeare, and there’s no fourth wall in the Greeks. It’s not as common as we pretend it is, even though we have all these theaters that are built for plays that have four walls. Saying I don’t like the fourth wall is me being in line with the vast majority of theatrical history.

[do-you-know-this-play]

Do You Know “Fat Ham?

Yes, I’ve been in/worked on it

Yes, I’ve seen it

Yes, I’ve read it

No, but I’ve heard of it

No, never heard of it

Voting ended onJan 13, 2024

[betterinthedarkblog]

“If you’re thinking about something every day, you’re not really remembering it. It’s just there, like heartburn.” — James Ijames, FAT HAM

[shakespearenews]

‘Hamlet Is Mine, Too’

James Ijames’s Fat Ham doesn’t just break the fourth wall — it bulldozes it.

In the broadest terms, what is the project of Fat Ham? Fat Ham is using the archaic form of the Shakespearean play to offer an audience a space to reconsider what they want their life to look like, and giving some people permission to be more themselves. It’s using the tragic form, which has all these rules attached to it, to offer people access to liberation. When the end of the show happens and everybody’s on their feet, there’s something churning. I grew up wanting to be a preacher, and this has felt the closest to touching people, showing them something they hadn’t seen or considered. The project of the play is creating space for joy and transformation.