Tyrone Phillips in 2019/Photo: Joe Mazza | Brave Lux

Tyrone Phillips apologizes for talking so fast—he blames his Jamaican-American heritage for his rapid patter. But he has a lot to say. At just thirty-four, Phillips is one of the region’s top theatrical directors, whose experience includes work at Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Writers Theatre and American Players Theatre. He’s also the founding artistic director of Chicago’s Definition Theatre. This month, Phillips is directing a joint production from Definition and the Goodman Theatre—“Fat Ham,” a modern reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” which opens January 11.

The Skokie native says he has loved Shakespeare since he was a student at Niles North High School and went on a field trip to Chicago Shakespeare. Phillips later spent a summer studying at the Globe in London while a student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“I feel like Shakespeare set us up for a fully rounded, beautiful experience of what theater’s supposed to be, with music, dance, poetry, asking the big questions, and also showing examples of what happens when we get a little too confident and too cocky,” says Phillips.

Phillips directed a critically acclaimed version of “Twelfth Night” at Chicago Shakespeare in 2023, set in the Caribbean. He also served as associate director for longtime Chicago Shakespeare artistic director Barbara Gaines’ last production, of “Hamlet” in 2019.

“Fat Ham,” by James Ijames, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2022 and got nominated for five Tony Awards. It’s set at a Southern cookout. Juicy, a young queer Black man played by Trumane Alston, meets his father’s ghost, who wants Juicy to avenge his murder.

Phillips says he loved doing “Hamlet” at Chicago Shakespeare, and it helped prepare him for leading “Fat Ham.” “I got to learn a lot when it comes to grief, to family dynamics, taking things into your own hands, violence and revenge,” Phillips says. “I think what’s so beautiful is that ‘Fat Ham’ is dealing with these things but in a contemporary setting.”

Phillips notes that Juicy is “an overweight Black man, by design,” not the “cut, chiseled” type people expect to see. “It’s about a softer person in general. He’s soft. He’s impressionable. It’s a coming-of-age story… We’re getting a contemporary African American kid growing up and figuring out is he going to listen to his father about his vengeance or is he going to break this intergenerational curse and do something differently.”

And yet, it’s a comedy, Phillips says. There’s a lot of drama, but also plenty of laughs. “That’s what really great theater does—it makes you laugh, makes you cry. One of the most amazing things I remember from my training as an actor is that in our body, physically, we laugh and cry on the same vibrations. It’s on the drop of a dime. The play has some serious moments and then releases the tension with humor. I think that keeps our audience engaged. And also we learn our lessons usually when our guard is down, we actually open up a little more. So I think the laughter is also a technique to get to the harder questions.”

“Fat Ham” coming to the Goodman Theatre in January

The play packs a lot into an hour-and-a-half—and Phillips likes that. This past fall, he directed an intense two-hander about Nat Turner, the enslaved preacher who was executed for leading a slave rebellion in 1831—“Nat Turner in Jerusalem” at American Players Theatre, which also ran for ninety minutes.

“I think ninety minutes is just what we need,” says Phillips. “In theater nowadays, we’re competing with so much. It’s a lot to fit into ninety minutes, but I’m used to that. I think why it’s so successful is that Juicy is our guide—he’s the main character. It’s his story, it’s about him coming to terms with sexuality, education, his future, his friendships, and his family. It’s a lot, but because it’s Juicy’s point of view, we’re able to hit a lot of these different things.”

Phillips hasn’t seen any other productions of “Fat Ham,” which he thinks is “exciting” since he can’t be influenced by another show. He says his directing style is to be true to the script. “James [Ijames] has given us some beautiful parameters,” says Phillips. Ijames was in the Definition Theatre ensemble, and wanted Definition to have the Chicago premiere.

Phillips says the show will have a “powerhouse Chicago cast. We have some of the best artists, the hardest-working artists.” He’s using the same sound and light designers from “Nat Turner,” Willow James and Jason Lynch.

Definition is in a capital campaign for a home in the South Side’s Woodlawn neighborhood. The company has a Hyde Park storefront space. Congo Square Theatre is also planning a space in Bronzeville, which will mean two new South Side theater spaces.

Phillips says that Definition has been successful at bringing younger people to the theater—something other theaters have struggled with. “We don’t have that problem,” says Phillips. “We’re younger, we’re millennials running a company so younger folk can see themselves as having a space to grow with us.”

Phillips says that “Fat Ham” is particularly well-suited to this time, when hardness and meanness are valued over softness and introspection.

“My main question for this piece right now is how do you protect your softness in a cold, hard world? How do you preserve who you are, even when things aren’t so great?” Phillips asks. “I think society feels that right now. This character has an opportunity to change his trajectory, and that’s what I’m excited about. We don’t want to respond by mirroring what you’re getting. Finding your voice, holding onto who you are, is really important.”

“Fat Ham” is also about different types of love. Asked if this isn’t a little like “Twelfth Night,” Phillips laughs. “It’s real—‘Twelfth Night’ is my core.” He says the play reminds him of the women in his life, like his Jamaican-born mom, who made him who he is. “That’s why it was so successful.”

“Fat Ham” at the Goodman Theatre, 170 North Dearborn, goodmantheatre.org, 312-443-3800. January 11 through February 23.