GET HAPPY LIFE
The World Premiere of Happy Life by Kathy Ng opens July 22, 2022 at Walkerspace. Stage and Cinema recommends this outing.
A woman leaving behind a lying life tries to move into her new apartment, but the two ghosts living underneath the floorboards will not allow it. A real estate agent discusses the intricacies of the Human Sperm Lottery over a naughty phone chat line. A hot-shot porn editor searches for her dead brother in tree branches and empty McChicken wrappers. Happy Life is a play about the domestic efficiency of stacking the living on top of the dead; about jargon and vomit and the bureaucracy of second chances. What oozes out, when there’s no more room?
Loosely inspired by the horrific events of the Hello Kitty murder, a violent abduction and killing of a nightclub hostess in Hong Kong, Happy Life employs magical realism to explore what happens after murder and if agency in the next life can set a new course for the living. The play, set in a Hong Kong apartment haunted by its previous tenants and previous deaths, grapples with the harsh realities of loneliness and those who exist on the fringe of society.
Directed by Kat Yen, the terrific cast will feature Sagan Chen, Priyanka Krishnan, Amy Chang, and Rachel Yong. Original Music and Sound Design by UptownWorks, Lighting Design by Evan C. Anderson, Costume Design by Alicia J. Austin, and Scenic and Props Design by Lily Guerin.
Happy Life
The Hearth Theater Company
Walkerspace, 46 Walker St
July 22-August 6, 2022
for tickets and schedule ($10-$45), visit Hearth Theater