VIDEO: Go Behind the Scenes of the Pulitzer Prize-Winning FAT HAM

Critically-acclaimed playwright James Ijames reinvents Shakespeare's masterpiece with his new, Pulitzer prize-winning drama, Fat Ham, which is currently playing at The Public Theater. Below, watch as PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown gets the scoop on the new show from Ijames as a part of the arts and culture series, CANVAS.

Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. It feels like a familiar story to Juicy, well-versed in Hamlet's woes. What's different is Juicy himself, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man trying to break the cycles of trauma and violence in service of his own liberation. From an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy. Fat Ham is a delectable comic tragedy directed by The Public's Associate Artistic Director Saheem Ali.

The complete cast of Fat Ham includes Nikki Crawford (Tedra), RJ Foster (Rev/Papp Understudy) , Tanesha Gary (Tedra/Rabby Understudy), Marquis D. Gibson (Juicy/Larry/Tio Understudy), Chris Herbie Holland (Tio), Billy Eugene Jones (Rev/Pap), Alexandria Brienne Lewis (Opal Understudy), Adrianna Mitchell (Opal), Calvin Leon Smith (Larry), Marcel Spears (Juicy), Benja Kay Thomas (Rabby), and Matthew Elijah Webb (Juicy/Larry/Tio Understudy).