💅 Shakespeare, but make it queer

It’s Thursday, Boston.

😹 Storrowing is arguably one of the dumbest things you can do. But what this driver did on Wednesday might top that. Seriously, how did this happen?!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• The GLX is criminally slow

• Dorchester Slip N’ Slide

• Trader Joe’s bag surprise

Up first …

ARTS & CULTURE

Hamlet: The remix

What happens when you mix a Shakespeare classic, a backyard BBQ, and Gen-Z characters? Fat Ham.

The Pulitzer-Prize winning play by James Ijames kicks off its run at The Huntington Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion tonight in the South End. And if the idea of seeing a Shakespeare play makes you cringe, I promise, it’s not what you’re thinking.

🎭 Fat Ham is a Black and queer remix of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. As Artistic Director Loretta Greco said, the play “is Hamlet and is not Hamlet.” It’s a coming-of-age story of sweet and sensitive Juicy, Hamlet’s stand-in, who’s trying to find his way as a queer Black man in a Southern family. Just days after Juicy’s father, Pap, dies, his mother marries his uncle, Rev. Pap’s ghost turns up at a family BBQ, revealing that Rev killed him, insisting Juicy avenge his murder. And hilarity ensues.

😂 Unlike the tragic, five-act Hamlet, Fat Ham is 90-minutes and gives big soap opera energy. At least “if Hamlet was a soap opera and not taking itself so seriously,” director Stevie Walker-Webb said in an interview with Front Porch Arts Collective. While some lines from Hamlet are woven into the text, the dialogue is set in 2023, making the language and story accessible to all.

🔑 That accessibility is key to Fat Ham’s success. “You go to see some plays where it takes two hours for someone to have one moment,” Walker-Webb said. But this play is for “a TikTok generation: a pendulum swing on every page, a rollercoaster ride,” where every character is messy and relatable.

🧠 And the internal conflicts each character faces are real. Fat Ham is really a coming-out story at its core. There’s Ophelia-inspired Opal, an intrepid spirit who rejects conventional feminine norms; Laertes-esque Larry, who perfected his masculine identity in the Marines; and their hyper-feminine mother trying to keep it all together. Unlike the revenge plot in Hamlet, Fat Ham ultimately asks how people can conquer their own baggage and demons to be the most authentic version of themselves.

😃 My thoughts? I’ve never left a Shakespeare play feeling so joyful. Let’s be real, sitting through a traditional, three-hour Shakespeare play can be torturous (and I was an English major). But Fat Ham is sharp, hilarious, current, and hooks you from the beginning. Tio, Juicy’s stoner-philosopher friend inspired by Hamlet’s pal Horatio, gave a knock-out performance.

🤑 Under 40? You can score tickets for $40. Their HYPE program, short for Huntington Young Patron Events, gets audience members access to any performance for any seat in the house for only $40 with the code DISCOUNT (with a valid ID). HYPE members also get access to special events throughout the season, including a backyard BBQ this Friday post-show with free food, games, and giveaways.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚃 You can literally walk faster than the Green Line extension. Even by the T’s low standards, this is pretty bad. Tracks along the relatively new GLX have become so defective in some areas that trains are moving slower than many people walk, about 3 miles per hour. The culprit? Narrow tracks, which apparently, if a train moves at full speed on them, can risk derailment. But that assessment has some experts scratching their heads as tracks usually widen, not narrow, over time. And dysfunction at the MBTA is only complicating efforts to make things better.

🚂 The Fairmount Commuter Rail will be free during the Ashmont branch shutdown. In other T news, the Fairmount Commuter Rail line will be free from Oct. 14 to 29 while the Red Line’s Ashmont branch and Mattapan line are closed for some major rehab. Free shuttle buses will still be available during the 16-day closure, but assuming it’s convenient for you, you can skip the traffic headache and take the CR instead.

🌊 Parts of Dorchester could turn into a Slip N’ Slide today. Just when you thought Boston traffic couldn’t get any worse, climate change said “hold my beer.” High tides and possible flooding will impact Morrissey Boulevard starting today through Monday, according to the Mass. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation. The flooding is most likely to occur either midday or late at night (you can see the projected times here), so prepare for potential road closures from Freeport St. to UMass Boston, and on the I-93 off-ramp.

👻 Salem is spooky, but their October traffic is scarier. The Salem population is bracing for the annual tourist pilgrimage to their Halloweeney locale, and city officials are imploring visitors to take advantage of the free satellite parking lots and shuttle buses instead of trying to find a parking spot downtown (the $10 weekend pass on the Commuter Rail is also a solid option). The free shuttles will start up again on Sept. 30 and operate every weekend through October. You can see the map of the parking lots and shuttle bus routes here.

QUICK QUESTION

🎃 Is Salem a must-visit spot in October?

ONE LAST THING

Trader Joe’s bag surprise

Pop quiz: What local iconography can be found on the bottom of Boston’s reusable Trader Joe’s bags? Hint: You’re probably gotten one before.

Tiktoker @kendramiddleton equally shocked and delighted Bostonians when she discovered the easily missable easter egg on the bottom of her own TJ’s bag: A bright, orange parking ticket. No really, see for yourself.

Her caption reads: “Boston parking ticket trigger warning not included.” But judging by the vibes in the comments, a warning might have been nice.

And now, no matter where you go, as long as you have your TJ’s bag, you’ll always have a little piece of home. <3

🛍️ Thanks for reading! The devil works hard, but the Trader Joe’s marketing team works harder.

💰 The results are in: Nearly 70% of readers agree that while Mass. state taxes are high, they pay for things that matter to them. One wrote they’re a “small price to pay for basic human rights!”

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