FAT HAM Comes to the San Francisco Playhouse
Performances begin on March 20.
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 30, 2025
San Francisco Playhouse will present the Northern California Premiere of 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham. Playwright James Ijames turns William Shakespeare’s Hamlet on its head in this piping hot play that transports the drama to a modern-day barbecue in the American South. Queer Black college kid Juicy longs to break his crazy family’s cycle of trauma and violence when his father’s ghost demands Juicy avenge his murder. With family feuds and a dance party on the menu, this delectably irreverent, poignant play explores legacy and identity, love and loss, as well as pain and joy. Bay Area theatre titan Margo Hall, who directed the Playhouse’s [hieroglyph], Barbecue, Red Velvet, The Story, and most recently Nollywood Dreams, returns to direct.
Fat Ham will perform March 20 – April 19, 2025 (opening night: March 26) at San Francisco Playhouse 450, Post Street.
Making its World Premiere in a filmed production presented by Wilma Theater, Fat Ham received the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama ahead of its in-person premiere Off-Broadway at The Public Theater. The production transferred to Broadway in 2023, where it was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Play.
San Francisco Playhouse has assembled a cast of talented actors for this play. Devin A. Cunningham (he/him) makes his Playhouse debut as Juicy. Cunningham has previously performed with American Conservatory Theater, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Oakland Theater Project, and Shotgun Players. He currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director at African-American Shakespeare Company.
Jenn Stephens makes her Playhouse debut as Tedra, Juicy’s mother. Stephens has worked with Dave Chappelle on “Chappelle’s Show,” as well as directors Andrei Serban and Mary Zimmerman while performing in Measure for Measure at The Public Theater.
Ron Chapman (he/him) plays Juicy’s father Rev and his father’s ghost Pap. Chapman is a resident artist at San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and has also performed with African-American Shakespeare Company, Novato Theatre Company, and Quantum Dragon Theatre.
Courtney Gabrielle Williams (she/her) debuts as Opal, one of Juicy’s friends. She has performed with New York’s Clubbed Thumb, The Flea, The Kitchen, and Rivendell Theater. Her film and T.V. credits include Starz’s “Blindspotting,” Fox’s “Empire,” Netflix’s “Soundtrack,” and NBC’s “Chicago Med.”
Samuel Ademola (he/him) debuts as Larry, an awkward boy attracted to Juicy. Ademola has been seen onstage at Marin Shakespeare Company, Left Edge Theatre, The Magic Theatre, and Chautauqua Playhouse. His film and TV credits include USA’s 2021 film “Nash Bridges.”
Phaedra Tillery-Boughton (she/her) makes her Playhouse debut as Rabby, Larry and Opal’s mother. Her stage credits include shows with Center Repertory Company, Presidio Theatre, Hillbarn Theatre, Ray of Light Theatre, Woodminster Summer Musicals, New Conservatory Theatre Center, and Palo Alto Players. As an Associate Producer and Casting Manager at SFBATCO and the 2022-2023 Theatre Bay Area Arts Leadership Resident, she passionately supports Black theater and strives to create inclusive spaces for Black creatives. Tillery-Boughton co-hosts the podcast Creatively Shaded, which amplifies Black theater experiences in the Bay Area. Recently, she was honored with the 2024-2025 Black Futures Award for her commitment to innovation and inclusion in the arts.
Seen in Waitress and Nollywood Dreams, Jordan Covington (he/him) returns as Tio, Juicy’s cousin and oldest friend. He has appeared in productions at San Francisco Opera, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Playhouse, PlayGround, Theatre Rhinoceros, 3Girls Theatre, and The Lower Bottom Playaz.
Fat Ham features choreography by Rotimi Agbabiaka, scenic design by Nina Ball; lighting design by Stephanie Johnson; costume design by Lee Garber-Patel; sound design by Ray Archie, properties design by Amy Benjamin, intimacy direction by Jeunee Simon, and fight direction by Dave Maier.
James Ijames (Playwright) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated playwright, director, and educator. Ijames’ Fat Ham won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Steinberg Playwright Award, and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play. Ijames won the Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise and the Terrence McNally New Play Award for WHITE. His plays also include The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington; Welcome Table; Passion of Osiris; Hymn; Tank Stranger; Moon Man Walk; Phoebe in Birdland; Good Bones; Reverie; The Threshing Floor; TJ Loves Sally 4ever; Abandon; Where We’ve Been; and What is Left, Burns. Ijames’ plays have been produced by The Public Theater, Shotgun Players, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Geffen Playhouse, National Black Theatre, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and many others.
Margo Hall (Director) is the artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and an award-winning actor/director/playwright. She returns to San Francisco Playhouse, where she directed [hieroglyph], Barbecue, Red Velvet, The Story, and most recently Nollywood Dreams. Other directing credits include Garuda’s Wing for The Magic Theatre, In the Evening by the Moonlight, Thurgood, and Soulful Christmas for Lorraine Hansberry Theatre; Friend of My Youth and Sonny’s Blues for Word for Word; and Brownsville Song, B-Side for Tray for Shotgun Players, where she also co-directed Bulrusher with Ellen Sebastian Chang.
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