happy life

by kathy ng

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...

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?

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happy life

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  • Daniel Waters: happy life by kathy ng
    “

    What a surreal, beautiful tapestry this play weaves. A hypnotic read, and I don't doubt even more affecting when produced. And now I'll bask in the kaleidoscopic afterglow of all that very messy yearning.

    What a surreal, beautiful tapestry this play weaves. A hypnotic read, and I don't doubt even more affecting when produced. And now I'll bask in the kaleidoscopic afterglow of all that very messy yearning.

    ”
  • Aly Kantor: happy life by kathy ng
    “

    It is always a gift to stumble across a truly bizarre, genuinely eccentric, sparklingly absurd, and downright memorable play. This is a strange, sexy, scary theatrical world, and I think I could spend a year trying to dig through the gooey, sticky, bloody, gelatinous mess it leaves behind. I love the way all the little stories, though profoundly sad, come together in the little container that is the apartment. I was hopeful at moments, but in the end, I'm feeling devastated and pensive and raw. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. What an odd trip!

    It is always a gift to stumble across a truly bizarre, genuinely eccentric, sparklingly absurd, and downright memorable play. This is a strange, sexy, scary theatrical world, and I think I could spend a year trying to dig through the gooey, sticky, bloody, gelatinous mess it leaves behind. I love the way all the little stories, though profoundly sad, come together in the little container that is the apartment. I was hopeful at moments, but in the end, I'm feeling devastated and pensive and raw. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. What an odd trip!

    ”
  • Alexa Derman: happy life by kathy ng
    “

    It's hard to stop thinking about this play once you've encountered it: it's sticky, gooey, its remnants cling to you. Happy Life is at deliciously dense but also so playful, horrifying and hilarious. It feels like what it feels like to be alive right now -- everything melting into cosmic soup and bureacracy and nightmares.

    It's hard to stop thinking about this play once you've encountered it: it's sticky, gooey, its remnants cling to you. Happy Life is at deliciously dense but also so playful, horrifying and hilarious. It feels like what it feels like to be alive right now -- everything melting into cosmic soup and bureacracy and nightmares.

    ”
View all 7 recommendations