Villanova Theatre Professor James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize Winning Play Nominated for Five Tony Awards

James Ijames portrait by Lowell Thomas.
Villanova University Theatre Professor James Ijames’ play “Fat Ham” has been nominated for five Tony Awards including:
- Best Play: “Fat Ham,” James Ijames
- Best Direction of a Play: Saheem Ali, “Fat Ham”
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Nikki Crawford, “Fat Ham”
- Best Costume Design of a Play: Dominique Fawn Hill, “Fat Ham“
- Best Lighting Design of a Play: Bradley King, “Fat Ham”
Ijames was awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for “Fat Ham,” a play that “deftly transposes ‘Hamlet’ to a family barbecue in the American South to grapple with questions of identity, kinship, responsibility, and honesty.” From the “Fat Ham” Broadway website: “Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. But here’s the rub! Revenge doesn’t come easy to Juicy, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man in search of his own happiness and liberation. From an uproarious family cookout emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.”
Produced by The Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia, “Fat Ham” premiered as a video stream in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Performed for sold out shows at The Public Theater in New York, NY, last spring, the play is currently showing at The American Airlines Theatre on Broadway. For ticket information, visit the “Fat Ham” website. While the show ends its run in New York, NY, on June 25, 2023, “Fat Ham” will open The Wilma Theatre’s 2023-24 season. Directed by Amina Robinson, “Fat Ham” will run from Nov. 24, 2023, through Dec. 17, 2023.
An Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University, Ijames is a playwright, director, performer, and educator. He received a BA in Drama from Morehouse College and a MFA in Acting from Temple University. Explore Ijames’ work and accolades here, and view the additional resources below:
- “Fat Ham” Official Website
- James Ijames Official Website
- “James Ijames on Winning a Pulitzer and Making ‘Hamlet’ a Comedy” (The New York Times)
- “Q&A: South Philly’s Pulitzer-Winning Playwright James Ijames on His Big Broadway Debut” (Philadelphia Magazine)
- The Subtext: James Ijames, From Grandma’s Backyard to Broadway (American Theatre) *podcast
- “On Broadway, Playwright James Ijames and Director Saheem Ali Are Making a Meal of ‘Fat Ham‘” (Vogue)
- Chat in the Stacks: A Conversation with Temple Alum and Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright James Ijames (Temple University Libraries)
- James Ijames on “Fat Ham” (Folger Shakespeare Library) *podcast
- “Out of Friendship, a Play Was Born” (The New York Times)
- “Playwright James Ijames breaks down ‘Fat Ham‘ script, talks breaking the cycle of generational trauma” (Entertainment Weekly)
- A Pulitzer Prize winner’s modern take on Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ (PBS)
Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. Tune in to the 76th Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, at 8 p.m. The ceremony is scheduled to air on CBS after striking Writers Union agrees to an altered format.