Fat Ham x YAB Audio Project

Our Youth Advisory Board dives into Fat Ham, their response to the play and its themes, and advocating for the text to be studied more widely.

Youth Advisory Board workshop_ 2025_2025_Photo by Sara Beaumont _c_ RSC_403435


Four people in partywear dancing, surrounded by purple sparkle and balloons, one man wears a crown and holds a skull

At the RSC, we have a Youth Advisory Board who support us to better understand and meet the needs of young people.

The Youth Advisory Board (YAB) began in 2019 and is made up of young people from our Associate Schools across the country who all want to make young voices heard in the arts.

YAB members are currently aged between 13-22 and made up of different genders and ethnicities. One of their main priorities is ensuring access and inclusion in the arts for everyone. A key focus is extending representation in the curriculum – ensuring that young people in schools are able to study works of literature by a diverse range of writers.

Over the summer of 2025, the YAB produced audio resources responding to the characters and themes of Fat Ham - discussing the play’s relationship to Hamlet, whilst advocating for the text to be studied more widely in KS4 classrooms.

Their work is inspired by the Lit in Colour campaign, a project launched by Penguin Books UK, alongside race equality think tank The Runnymede Trust, and including Bloomsbury Publishing , which aims to support schools to introduce texts by writers from an ethnically diverse background. The resources created by the YAB aim to support teachers to choose to teach Fat Ham*.

*Fat Ham sits on Bloomsbury’s 2024 KS4 reading list.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Members of our Youth Advisory Board, aged 16-23, in conversation with special guest content.

They talk about the themes of Fat Ham that stand out to them, including:

  • The play's US cultural and historical significance
  • Queer narratives, Black queer identity and joy
  • Family dynamics and generational trauma
  • Toxic masculinity and revenge
  • How the play reframes Shakespeare's Hamlet

Listen to the audio series now via our audio player above, or download the episodes to listen at your leisure. You can find out more about each episode below.

Episode 1 – Text & Structure with Edie and Freedom

‘There’s so many times I put things in place and I think…I wonder if they’ll let me get away with this.’

Welcome to the first episode of our audio-mini-series! We’ll be kicking off our exploration of James Ijames’ reframing of Hamlet through Fat Ham with Edie and Freedom. They’ll be taking us through the impact of the play being meta-theatre, the cultural and historical significance of the US states listed as possible locations for the play, and Ijames’ use of comedy and tragedy together.

Download Episode 1 Transcript

Episode 2 – Pap, Rev & Larry and the toxic masculine with Freedom and Izzy

‘I don’t even think the word toxic exists in their vocabulary.’

This time, Freedom and Izzy will be exploring how generational trauma shows up as toxic masculinity within the play. They’ll be looking at how each character compares to their Shakespearean counterparts – Claudius, Hamlet Senior and Laertes – whilst unpicking what the supernatural represents through Pap’s ghost and choosing joy over tragedy.

Download Episode 2 Transcript

Episode 3 – Black queer pride: Juicy & Opal with Ashton and Ella

‘It feels like they’re each other’s safe space.’

Taking a deep-dive into the characters of Juicy and Opal, Ella and Ashton uncover comparisons to their Shakespearean counterparts Hamlet and Ophelia in a joyful retelling of Shakespeare’s original text.

Download Episode 3 Transcript

Episode 4 – Tedra, Rabby and familial shame with Ashton and Izzy

‘No matter what you think of her, and no matter what she may have done wrong…she is a good mother at heart.’

This time, Ashton and Izzy will be exploring the maternal characters of Tedra and Rabby. They’ll be looking at how they compare to their Shakespearean counterparts – including where they sit within the patriarchal world of Fat Ham - with further analysis of the text’s theatrical devices, celebrating joy and acceptance.

Download Episode 4 Transcript

Episode 5 – A friend like Tio with Ella and Hareth

‘I accidently invited Tio to my barbecue.’

It’s our final episode of the series, and we’ll be looking at the character of Tio with Ella and Hareth. They’ll be discussing where this pivotal character sits against the toxic masculinity of the play, and the significance of the gingerbread speech.

Download Episode 5 Transcript

You may also like