\u201cThat\u2019s the thing that I really want people to lean into and recognize, that it\u2019s about people discovering, fighting for and working through their stuff to get to their own freedom. Because sometimes our families keep us twisted.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Vickie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/U3RVVFQLYRE65MSEJCNLTTNKFA.jpg\")
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Vickie Washington, Fat Ham director, with her son, Djor Nance, who is assisting her on the production and was part of all three shows in Black Broadway Summer.<\/p>\n
Na’Tori Harris<\/p>\n
In the case of Juicy, he doesn\u2019t feel seen, Washington says. \u201cHe\u2019s a young, Black, queer man in a family, especially the males, that are not embracing nor appreciative of, in fact, downright hostile to his being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than the elders, the emphasis is put on the young characters, she says, including Juicy\u2019s best friend Opal, n\u00e9e Ophelia, and her brother Larry, Shakespeare\u2019s Laertes, who in Fat Ham is a member of the military.<\/p>\n
\u201cSoftness is a word that\u2019s thrown at him by Rev and Pap in a negative way. Larry helps him recognize the power of softness and how getting away from it has taken something away from him. Softness is wrapped in the matriarchy, and there\u2019s a moment when the patriarchy, symbolically, is dismantled, because we need to be freed of it. For far too long, there are forces among us who are trying to drive us back to a world that is this narrow, that has no room for you, for me, for anybody that stands on that stage in Fat Ham.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fat Ham is the last entry in Black Broadway Summer, an accidental confluence of three plays by African American writers produced by North Texas troupes toward the end of this season.<\/p>\n
It began in June with Soul Rep Theatre\u2019s rendering of Fort Worth native Jordan E. Cooper\u2019s satirical Ain\u2019t No Mo\u2019, an off-the-wall series of vignettes built around a high concept: The U.S. government is offering Black Americans a one-way ticket to Africa. It received six Tony nominations for its Broadway run.<\/p>\n
Related:Lyric Stage and Turtle Creek Chorale collaborate on classic musical \u2018Guys & Dolls\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Circle Theatre\u2019s production of the Pulitzer winning musical A Strange Loop followed later in the month, directed by Washington. Her son, Djor\u00e9 Nance, who is music consultant and co-dramaturg on Fat Ham, was the music director for Loop and was part of the cast of Ain\u2019t No Mo\u2019. And it\u2019s not the only overlap.<\/p>\n Cherish Love, the Loop music supervisor, is in Fat Ham; Jori Jackson, who was in Ain\u2019t No Mo\u2019, is also in the cast of Fat Ham as Opal; and sound designer Cresent Haynes worked on both those shows as well. Washington also brought in a former student, Harold Steward, as assistant director and co-dramaturg. And she\u2019s known Nikka Morton, who plays Tedra, since the actor was 14, directing her in Stage West\u2019s 2022 production of What to Send Up When It Goes Down.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the people in the show already know each other,\u201d Washington says. \u201cThe vibe in the rehearsal space is very similar to the vibe in parts of the play. We brought in some barbecue, so we could have our own version of Fat Ham. At any moment, somebody would break out in an old school gospel tune or R&B.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it was a very necessary piece of theater. I do theater because I believe it has the power of transformation. I believe it has the power to save lives. I\u2019m convinced that there will be someone who comes to see this production, just like someone who came to see A Strange Loop, and it will resonate with them in such a way that it helps them to move a little further on their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Details<\/b><\/p>\n Aug. 28-Sept. 14 at 821 W. Vickery Blvd., Fort Worth. $42.50-$52.50. stagewest.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n