James Ijames set the right expectations when he gave the name “Fat Ham” to his adaptation of “Hamlet.” Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize–winning play is as cheeky as its title. The Black Rep is at its best in the current production of “Fat Ham,” which builds an uproarious comedy on the foundation of Shakespeare’s tragedy.

The play is set in the backyard of a house in North Carolina. The occasion is a barbecue to celebrate the marriage of Rev to Tedra, whose first husband, Pap, was stabbed to death in prison only a week before the wedding. This situation mirrors the circumstances at the start of “Hamlet,” where Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, has married Queen Gertrude, his dead brother’s widow, less than two months after the old king’s death.

The character in “Fat Ham” corresponding to Hamlet is Juicy. Each of them is distraught over his mother’s hasty remarriage to his uncle, and each is visited by his fathers’ ghost. In both plays, the ghost turns the son’s life upside down, but the two visitations could hardly differ more. The ghost’s appearance is chilling in “Hamlet” and whimsical in “Fat Ham.”

Ijames shrewdly exploits the possibilities in adapting a classic. The similarities are delightfully clever. Turning “Hamlet’s” play-within-the-play into a parlor game is a stroke of brilliance. The departures accentuate the differences between the two plays’ worldviews.

“Fat Ham” is a very funny play, but it explores serious themes of family trauma, vengeance, violence, and gender identity. Geovonday Jones’ knowing direction is fully attuned to the play’s blend of comic and consequential action. The excellent Black Rep cast turns in vivid, quirky, and totally believable portrayals of “Fat Ham’s” characters. The actors, their roles, and their “Hamlet” prototypes are:

• Marshall W. Mabry IV as Juicy (Hamlet)
• Angela Wildflower as Tedra (Gertrude)
• Enoch King as Rev (Claudius) and Pap (the ghost)
• Brian McKinley as Larry (Laertes)
• Raevyn Ferguson as Opal (Ophelia)
• Margery Handy as Rabby (Polonius)
• Olajuwon Davis as Tio (Horatio)

The Black Rep’s exuberant opening night audience returned and amplified the energy coming from the stage. Fun in the theater is contagious.

The inviting atmosphere for a celebration is firmly established by Patrick Huber’s scenic design, Andre Harrington’s costumes, Mikhail Lynn’s props, and Heather Beal’s choreography. Huber’s lighting and the sound by Tre’von Griffith (TreG) provide the special effects needed for a ghost story.

“Fat Ham” continues through June 7 at WashU’s Edison Theater, 6465 Forsyth Boulevard. The Black Rep begins its 50th anniversary season in September. The exciting lineup includes:

• “The Color Purple” (the musical adaptation of the novel by Alice Walker)
• “The Colored Museum,” by George C. Wolfe
• “Purpose,” by Braden Jacob-Jenkins
• “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf,” by Ntozake Shange
• “Gem of the Ocean,” by August Wilson

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by Howard Ash, courtesy of The Black Rep.
From the left, Brian McKinley as Larry and Marshall W. Mabry IV as Juicy in “Fat Ham.”