2022 Pulitzer Winner Fat Ham Makes Broadway Debut With Veterans Day Reading November 7

James Ijames' 2022 Pulitzer-winning play Fat Ham makes its Broadway debut with a one-night-only reading at the American Airlines Theatre November 7 at 6 PM. Presented by Arts in the Armed Forces in honor of Veterans Day, the event is free for veterans, current active duty service members, and their guests, with a limited number of civilian tickets available by sponsoring a military ticket.

The cast, under the direction of Sideeq Heard, includes a number of alumni from The Public Theater and National Black Theatre's recent Off-Broadway co-production of the work, including Nikki Crawford, Chris Herbie Holland, Adrianna Mitchell, Calvin Leon Smith, Marcel Spears, and Benja Kay Thomas, newly joined by J. Bernard Calloway and Alexandria Lewis.

Ijames' reinvention of Shakespeare's Hamlet, exploding the psychological classic into a comic tragedy, was recently announced as the winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Taking place at a cookout, Juicy, a queer Southern college kid, grapples with identity questions, the ghost of his father, a supernatural demand for vengeance, and the choice of breaking or continuing cycles of trauma and violence.

The reading will be followed by a Q&A.

Founded by former Marine and Broadway alum Adam Driver and Joanne Tucker, Arts in the Armed Forces looks to enrich the lives of military in the U.S. with theatre and film. Their core program brings play readings with professional actors to military installations around the world free of charge.

Service members looking for tickets can visit Events.AITAF.org. Civilians wanting to sponsor a military ticket and attend can make a donation at Donate.AITAF.org.

Take a look at The Public Theater and National Black Theatre's 2022 Off-Broadway production of Fat Ham: