Things are going as well as they can as Juicy (a pensive, smart, and gay Marcel Spears who is thicc, beautiful, and lonely) and his cousin and oldest friend Tio (a relaxed and clever Chris Herbie Holland who is a stoner) set up for what appears to be his mother’s wedding reception at her house in North Carolina. Earlier in the day, Tedra (a disingenuous Nikki Crawford) married Juicy’s uncle Rev (a scoundrel-possessed Billy Eugene Jones) who, as the audience soon learns, had his brother – Juicy’s father Pap – killed in prison. Pap (also Billy Eugene Jones) killed Boogie “cause his breath stank.” When Juicy goes up to the attic to get Christmas lights, the Ghost of Juicy’s father appears to Tio.

Only a few minutes into “Fat Ham,” playwright James Ijames’s brilliant riff on Shakespeare’s “Tragedy of Hamlet” is off and running and it quickly becomes clear that it will be necessary to “fasten [ones] seatbelt” for “a bumpy ride.” Mr. Ijames’s choice to transport the Dane to North Carolina as Fat Ham results in a compelling play about the ties that bind families together and how those ties can become so easily enmeshed with intrigue, dishonesty, murderous thoughts and deeds, finding skeletons in closets, and releasing the living from the discomfort of closets. Watch carefully as the relationship between Juicy and Larry (a secretive, awkward, and war-broken Calvin Leon Smith) unfolds with graceful tension.

Director Saheem Ali helms the bard’s riff with brilliant flashes of insight into the parallel characters’ motivations, secrets, and desires as they navigate the truth exposed in the eerie appearance of the Ghost of Juicy’s father. The open air and interior scenic design by Maruti Evans, the costume design by Dominique Fawn Hill, the mood-inspired lighting design by Stacey Derosier, the sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman, and the illusions design by Skylar Fox nicely enhance Ali’s keen direction.

James Ijames envisions a different ending to Shakespeare’s tragedy, and any description of that wonderful surprise is better left for the audience member to discover and savor. This effusive ending and all that comes before in “Fat Ham” brims with the importance of agency, the risks of revenge, the need for space, and the ultimate importance of giving and receiving truth. Enjoy the magical realism and the play within the play within the play that suspends disbelief in the most delightful and believable way!