Lindsay Smiling

Critically-acclaimed playwright James Ijames reinvents Shakespeare’s masterpiece with his new drama, FAT HAM. 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. It feels like a familiar story to Juicy, well-versed in Hamlet’s woes. What’s different is Juicy himself, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man trying to break the cycles of trauma and violence in service of his own liberation. From an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy.

The New York Times recently called Dmitry Krymov “one of the world’s finest theatermakers.” For this new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, the world-renowned Russian director collaborates with the Wilma’s acclaimed HotHouse Acting Company to reimagine one of theater’s enduring masterworks. What is it like to lose your home? The Cherry Orchard centers around a Russian family grappling with the potential foreclosure of their estate, and a community in transition as the old makes way for the new. Volleyballs and sunflower seeds fly, while a giant mechanical train station flipboard tells the future … plus more surprises await in Krymov’s inventive re-interpretation. One family is in danger of losing their home, their comfort, and their power. What comes next … and who will profit?