- courtesy Goodman Theatre
- Director Eric Ting and playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig in rehearsal for The World of Extreme Happiness
“The world of extreme happiness” is a literal translation of the Chinese term for “heaven.” It is also the title of Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s new play, which opens at the Goodman Theatre on September 13. It’s the story of Sunny, a girl from rural China who, as a newborn, was thrown into a pig slop bucket to die by parents who were disappointed she wasn’t a boy. As a teenager, she moves to the city of Shenzhen to work in a factory to earn money for her brother’s education. There she comes under the influence of a coworker with an obsessive belief in the power of self-help and begins scheming to improve her lot in life.
I’m not sure why the cast and crew of The World of Extreme Happiness think they have to take the “try it, you’ll identify with it, too!” approach to attract non-Chinese audiences. Non-white audiences have to do this almost all the time. It also reminds me of the kerfuffle earlier this summer when Ira Glass tweeted that he thought Shakespeare sucked because he didn’t find Richard III or Twelfth Night “relatable” and Rebecca Mead responded with a withering essay against “relatability” in the New Yorker. Shouldn’t they have enough faith that the characters and situations they have created are compelling enough as they are? (And if the Goodman has to depend on audience relatability for funding, that’s a sad commentary on the theater right now.)
