This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
When Atlanta-based Marshall W. Mabry IV (they/them) first read James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize-winning script for “Fat Ham,” the actor declared the lead role of Juicy would one day be theirs.
“I auditioned for Juicy first at 19, when they were going up off-Broadway,” Mabry said in a recent phone interview. “And, like, I read it, and I had this really weird feeling about the piece, like I’d never read anything that felt like me before and that explicitly called me out. It says that Juicy is soft, pensive, thicc and gay. ‘Soft both in body and in temperament.’ I read that, and it literally stopped me in my tracks. I was very much like Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’: ‘I don’t know when, I don’t know how. But I know something’s starting right now.’”
Now, at 22, Mabry stars in the Alliance Theatre production of “Fat Ham,” running through May 12. They said they cannot wait for hometown audiences to experience the play, which reimagines William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at a Southern family barbecue.
“I’m so ready to do this for Atlanta audiences; I’m so, so so ready,” Mabry said. “The theater that we’re playing is the Hertz Stage, and I was a teen ensemble member at the Alliance. The summer I turned 16 was the first year I was there, and I have seen more plays in that theater than anywhere else in the world. So for me — oh, I don’t want to cry — playing on that stage is sacred.”
Credit: Photo by T. Charles Erickson
Credit: Photo by T. Charles Erickson
Mabry grew up in Fayetteville and Fairburn — at one point serving as a theater critic for ArtsATL — before going to college in Boston for years and traveling the country as a professional actor. Mabry is also the youngest performer to speak onstage at TedxBroadway, delivering a speech about the impact Shakespeare’s works can have upon African American youth.
The Alliance Theatre had a profound effect upon Mabry, who trained with its now-artistic directors, Christopher Moses and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, as a teen.
“It’s really crazy to be in a place that’s been my sanctuary for so long,” Mabry said. “I can fully say that if I hadn’t seen ‘Seize the King’ at the Alliance, I wouldn’t have explored Shakespeare the way I have. I wouldn’t be able to play Juicy. The Alliance’s programming and its education have literally impacted every way I’ve moved as an artist. Getting to come back to Atlanta now, at 22, in my equity principal debut in my home theater — in the theater that literally changed me molecularly as a young artist — this is a moment in my life that I know I’m going to be talking about forever.”
In “Fat Ham,” Juicy is visited by the ghost of his father and is told to avenge his death at a barbecue celebrating his mother’s marriage to his uncle. The characters in the play are aware of Shakespeare’s tragedy and comment upon how the plot is echoing in their lives.
Mabry, who first read “Fat Ham” before it won the Pulitzer, has embraced this opportunity. The Alliance show is a co-production with Huntington Theatre Company and Front Porch Arts Collective, and it opened in Boston with this cast last fall. Mabry brought intense dedication and study to prepare for the role.
“My mom looked at me real crazy when I was on my Peloton doing upwards of eight miles a day, learning the show for six weeks before we even started rehearsals,” Mabry said. “But the method was part of it for me. It was necessary. I have such a respect for this show. This is my favorite play in the world. So I really feel like I have a responsibility to tell the story that honors it and honors our culture.”
Credit: Photo by T. Charles Erickson
Credit: Photo by T. Charles Erickson
Mabry said winning the Pulitzer changed the cultural trajectory for the piece in an important way.
“It’s very rare that we get to have Black art raised to this other literary tier, but it’s also a show that isn’t about trauma in an exploitative sense,” Mabry said. “Joy and laughter are at the heart of the tragedy. I really felt like I had a responsibility to the piece, to the playwright and to Juicy as a character to do it — and do it for real.”
Mabry grew teary during the interview while speaking of how this show is their dream, at one point joking that our conversation was “sponsored by Kleenex.”
“I’m dedicating myself to be where my feet are, to be so present and so grateful that this is how the work has turned out,” they said. “I want to give Atlanta the best show that I absolutely can. If you want people to spend 90 minutes to two hours of their night with you, you need to give them the best that you have. That’s the plan for me.”
THEATER PREVIEW
“Fat Ham”
Through May 12. $40-$60. Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404-733-4600. alliancetheatre.org.
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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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