Missed ‘Fat Ham’ at the Wilma? You can watch it online

Fat Ham, the Pulitzer-winning loose adaptation of Hamlet, ends its successful run at the Wilma Theater this weekend. If you missed the buzziest show of the season, though, there’s a chance to see it from home with the theater’s recently released streaming production.

The hilarious Tony-nominated play, from Philadelphia playwright James Ijames, centers on Juicy, a sensitive, Black gay man who is haunted by the ghost of his cruel father, who demands that Juicy avenge his death and kill his brother (who, of course, just married Juicy’s mother). Set in a backyard barbecue somewhere in the South, chaos and karaoke ensue as Juicy confronts his family’s messiness.

Fat Ham broke a record at the Wilma this year, becoming the production with the highest single-ticket sales in the theater’s history (beating the 2000 production of Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love). The streaming production showcases multiple camera angles capturing the Wilma production, directed by Amina Robinson.

This run marks the first time that Fat Ham has played to a live audience in Philadelphia. It premiered here in 2021 as a digital streaming production from the Wilma, directed by the theater’s artistic director Morgan Green. The show landed on stage the next year at New York’s Public Theater, days after it received the Pulitzer Prize for drama, recognizing the funny, incisive, and ambitious work. After a stint on Broadway earlier this year, Fat Ham returned to the Wilma with a celebratory homecoming to cheer on the original work from a Philadelphia playwright.

Limited tickets are $29 for the streaming production, available through Jan. 28. There’s a geographic restriction, though: Viewers within 125 miles of Pittsburgh will be unable to stream the production online.