Fat Ham at the Shakes

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Fat Ham is a serious yet humorous one two punch based loosely on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play is set at a barbecue in the backyard of a southern suburban home. Juicy is visited by the ghost of his dead father. This visitation reveals that Juicy’s father was murdered by The Rev who is Juicy’s uncle and now set dad. After the murder the Rev made his move to win his brother’s widow Tedra.

Juicy’s friend Rabby was the first to see the ghost. The ghost rose from the beer cooler set at the front of the stage. The ghost had a mission which was to convince his son Juicy to avenge his murder. Juicy however resists this long history of violence in the family. He wants to find happiness while embracing his queerness. His identity isn’t found by throwing a good punch but by accepting the flaws of the family around him and finding where he belongs.

Others at the back yard BBQ also are coming to terms with their queerness. It turns out that Opal likes woman and Larry who arrives to the BBQ in a marine uniform wants deep a heart to be softer than the soldier he was trained to be. Each must find their way despite family expectations.

When I started this sketch, I thought a lighting tech or sound person might be working the board at house right. No one ever set up a that station. All the cues must have been locked in place. The set looked very much like the others sets I had seen for Fat Ham. In an interview I saw, James IJames the show’s author said that the set was very much like the backyard where he grew up. It is an unassuming setting where very heated family dynamics play out.

Unlike Hamlet where almost everyone dies, the  ending of this play celebrates acceptance and joy found despite the arrogant pigeonholing of gender. Larry the marine is seen resplendent like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The family finds joy in their imperfect world. I left the theater feeling a creative spirit can still bloom in this jaded and imperfect world.

Fat Ham is being performed live at the Shakespeare Theater through March 29, 20206. Trust me this is a show you do not want to miss.

Fat Ham Final Poster

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The final pass at the Fat Ham poster features the “to be or not to be” moment from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Granted there is no mirrored skull or crown in Fat Ham, but it allows for anyone to know that the play is an homage to Hamlet. I switched from depicting the glamorous lighting of the finale of the play and instead focused on depicting the back yard barbecue.

Juicy (Je’Shaun Jackson) fills in for Hamlet who is visited by the ghost of his dead father and tasked with killing his father’s brother who is the one who murdered his dad. Juicy however, has a pleasant disposition an couldn’t hurt a fly.

Juicy performing Karaoke fills in for the famous To be or not to be monologue. Juicy sings Creep by Radiohead. IT starts off awkwardly but the slips into a dream sequence in which Juicy fells completely in control of the world around him.  It is at first humorous and then gloriously empowering.  It shows a creative and expressive individual embracing his uniqueness and taking flight.

The final poster had to embrace lightness rather than the dark to be more successful. There are so many moments of absolute joy and humor in the play and that had to overpower the dark themes. The photo taken for the theater program slipped back towards the darkness of reflecting on mortality. Juicy wears a black turban head wrap in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater production and it is an awesome replacement for the crown. I wish I had thought of it when I was working on the poster.

Costuming was by Jos N. Banks who also played Larry in the production. Larry shows up to the barbecue in uniform. This crisp militaristic uniform defines how he is seen by everyone. The Rev (Essex O’Brian) respects a man who has killed others. When Larry is alone with Juicy, he expresses a desire to be more soft and caring.

By the end of Hamlet almost everyone has died including the protagonist Hamlet. Fat Ham turns that ending on it’s head, deciding to celebrate acceptance and inclusion with a rousing and glamorous musical number. Chandeliers drop down from the ceiling and the lighting turns hot and exotic. Queerness is celebrated like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Fat Ham runs through March 29, 2026 at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E. Rollins St., Orlando, FL 32803). Ticket prices range from $70 for the A signature series seats to $48 for the C signature series seats. You don’t want to miss Fat Ham.

Phantasmagoria Photo Shoot

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I went to the magnificent Sanford home of Phantasmagoria founder and director John DiDonna to sketch photo and video sessions to promote the upcoming season. A black drop screen was set up behind a single stool with multiple lights to get a warm ambient lighting effect.

By the time I arrived all the actors were in costume and in make up. They were gathered in the kitchen and dining room waiting for their turn to perform solo for quick character videos. John DiDonna stood behind the iPhone camera and he would count slowly to 15 for each video performance. Each character would slowly notice the camera and then gesture towards it in a menacing or seductive way.

John is always so proud of his performers. He told me about how he met one actress when he was performing in Shakespeare‘s King Lear. There were only 3 rolls for women, so this actress performed as a male page and did so magnificently. Another newer member of the cast had just graduated from Julliard.

I was a bit nerve wracked since I knew I only had 15 seconds to complete any given performer. I asked Dion Leonhard DiDonna how many more performers needed videos shot. Time was flying by. The thought was that my question might mean I was growing bored, but quite the opposite was the case, I was desperate for enough time to finish the sketch.

A commotion broke out in the kitchen among the cast. A mouse had been spotted and there were excited squeals as they tried to corner it and capture it. One actor explained to another about how a mouse can squeeze through the tiniest of crevices. The Phantasmagoria cast tell the most horrific of Victorian horror stories. On this day the tiniest of demons squeezed in and caused chaos.

Henry IV Part 2: Poster Evolution

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The Henry IV Part 2 poster is meant to fit in with the designs set up for the Fire and Reign series, a seven Shakespeare production journey through history over three seasons covering the Rise of Henry V and the Wars of the Roses, from Richard II – Richard III.

The Bare Bard signature series was well established. I started my poster design journey simply by using sketches I had done of the prior production, Henry IV Part 1. The watercolor drawing done on location couldn’t be too far off from how the Part 2 production might look.

Center stage was a wooden tavern table that resembled any picnic table, with the plump Falsaf seated center stage. Being a watercolor it didn’t tie in well with the other art I painted for the season’s posters. My other thought was that Falsaf was rather small since I had sketched the entire set. When drawing on location I am always trying to capture as much of the scene as I can.


My next thought was to simply zoom in on the same sketch. This however was still too distant to the action at center stage. Jim Helsinger offered to get me photos from the production and that allowed me to piece together a more intricate panting with actual cast members. Philip Nolan as Sir John Falsaf,  Anne Hering as Mistress Quickly, and Brandon Roberts as Bardolph would all repeat their rolls in Part 2.

I looked a medieval manor interiors for the setting for the scene. Merriment and plenty of liquor were the theme for the final poster.

William Shakespeare was super-productive when the plague shut down his theaters.  In Shakespeare’s day the theater was the central hub of connectivity. Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, Titus Andronicus, and Henry VI, Part 2 were all published in 1593 and 1594. Once Shakespeare’s theaters reopened, audiences returned to see the companies that survived. So Henry VI, Part 2 is a plague inspired production, now being presented during a lull in the pandemic.

Tickets range from $22 to $33. The play is a fun Shakespearean romp, I wouldn’t miss it. Tickets range from $22 to $33. The play runs through April 24, 2022.

12th Annual John R. Hamilton Mock Trial: The Crown v. Falstaff

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Falstaff was put on trial at the Orlando Shakes, (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL 32803).  He is a disreputable an rather rotund character in Shakespeare‘s Henry IV. The judges in this trial were to be Alisa Smith, Chair of the Department of Legal Studies at the University of Central Florida, Judge Frederick Lauten, former Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit for Orange and Osceola Counties, and Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel Columnist. When introduced, Judge Lauten did an admirable and hilarious job of disinfecting his fellow judges and the entire judging area.

Hosted
by the Bard’s Board Barristers, the Margeson Theater was transformed
into a hilarious, interactive courtroom. Actors from Orlando Shakes’
production of Henry IV, Part 1 took the unpredictability of live theater to a whole new level in an
over-the-top, rollicking trial amidst the panel of celebrity judges.

To start Falstaff recounted his heroic fight with some highwaymen who robbed him of the loot he had just hoisted himself. He brandished his sword recreating his every movement in the battle that ensued. With each telling the number of foes he had fought off grew. Then a cloaked figure read off the litany of charges against Falstaff which included larceny, robbery, thievery, lewd and lascivious behavior, public drunkenness, foul oderocity fraud, deceit, embezzlement, false accusations, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, impersonating the king, conspiracy and four counts of claim to murder. The list was hilariously long.

The trial itself began with Darth Vader as the prosecutor and Princess Leia as the defense attorney. Light sabers replaced the more timely swords. During the trial Falstaff got to discuss how honor has no place on a battlefield. The funniest moments came when Bardolph, Falsaff’s side kick was put on the stand to testify. He was incredibly drunk and a very easy witness to sway.

In the end the entire audience was the jury and after our jury instructions, we had to vote on Falstaff’s guilt or innocence. We had to raise out hands and make a guttural Wookiee call when we voted. Despite his clear guilt on many of the counts, he was an important character in the upcoming play, Henry IV Part 2. I voted to acquit, but the final decision was not clear based on the the noise in the theater. Chaos was breaking out. Then Falsaff bounded center stage and shouted, “I have been pardoned!” He ran off stage to murderous applause.

Titus and Andronicus Holiday Special at Fringe.

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Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare‘s bloodiest play. I had never seen the play but that didn’t stop me from seeing the Fringe Holiday Special based on the be headings and mutilations. Knowing nothing about the Shakespeare play was a definite drawback. I was quite honestly lost for most of the production. I sketched as the barest of set pieces were being assembled. Producer Albert Pergande whacked someone with a pole as they were setting up the makeshift fireplace. This sort of real life slapstick was also to be found in the play as several puppets with Beavis and Butthead voices raped and dismembered a female puppet. There were moments of laughter, but I suspect they came mostly from audience members who appreciated the references to the Shakespeare play.

An applause sign hinted at the desired audience response. Bloodshed was combined with Christmas Carols, but I’m not sure why. The production was so Fringe that I didn’t know what to make of it. I was happy for the opportunity to sketch people wearing togas. Now that Fringe is over, I kind of miss seeing people wearing sheets in public.