Cast Announced for Kathy Ng's HAPPY LIFE with The Hearth at Walkerspace
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.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jun. 10, 2022
The Hearth Theater Company will present the World Premiere of Happy Life by Kathy Ng (Clubbed Thumb's Early Career Writers' Group; New Georges affiliated artist), directed by Kat Yen (Leah Winkler's Two Mile Hollow; Noah Diaz' The Juniors), July 22-August 6 at Walkerspace (46 Walker St, New York, NY 10013).
The cast will feature Sagan Chen* (Pomegrenade at IRT), Viet Vo* (NY Times Critics' Pick, Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona & Brooklyn; In the Soundless Ave with New Light Theatre Project), Priyanka Krishnan* (The Shadowlands at La MaMa; Bhangin' It at La Jolla Playhouse/Lincoln Center), Amy Chang (Ace the Case with Susan Sarandon; Five Women at Hudson Guild Theater), and Rachel Yong (A Small Breach in Protocol at Big Rick's at Vineyard Theater; Low Key Free with Labyrinth Theater). The creative team will include Original Music and Sound Design by UptownWorks (Daniela Hart, Noel Nichols & Bailey Trierweiler), Lighting Design by Evan C. Anderson (The Plot at Yale Rep; The Juniors at Colgate University), Costume Design by Alicia J. Austin (The Swindlers at Baltimore Center Stage; Testmatch at Yale Rep), and Scenic and Props Design by Lily Guerin (Seven Spots on the Sun at Yale Rep; Hotel Sonder at the Davenport Theatre) with Production Stage Manager Kyra Bowie.
*Appearing courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association.
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.
Performances will take place on Friday, July 22 at 8pm, Saturday, July 23 at 2pm, Saturday, July 23 at 8pm, Sunday, July 24 at 2pm, Tuesday, July 26 at 8pm, Wednesday, July 27 at 8pm, Thursday, July 28 at 8pm, Friday, July 29 at 8pm, Saturday, July 30 at 8pm, Sunday, July 31 at 2pm, Tuesday, August 2 at 8pm, Wednesday, August 3 at 8pm, Thursday, August 4 at 8pm, Friday August 5 at 8pm, and Saturday, August 6 at 8pm. Tickets ($10-$45) are available for advance purchase at www.thehearththeater.com. The performance will run approximately 100 minutes, with no intermission.
The Hearth nurtures and celebrates artists who are women, trans, nonbinary and people of underrepresented genders (playwrights, directors, actors, and designers) and develop plays that represent the complex and vast spectrum of womanhood. The Hearth produces plays that explore characters who pulse with emotional, intellectual, and psychological complexity. We seek to challenge stereotypes, advance and complicate the conversation about feminism, and expand perceptions of what it means to be a woman. We are committed to making room for the next generation of women artists in the landscape of the American theater. We've previously produced twice extended and once remounted Athena by Gracie Gardner at JACK, The Commons by Lily Akerman at 59E59 Theaters, For Annie by Beth Hyland at Lucid Body House, She Buried the Pistol by Lydia Blaisdell at WOW Festival at La Jolla Playhouse. Among many workshops and internal development we've hosted public readings of plays by Nissy Aya, Leila Teitelman, Lizzie Stern, and Rae Binstock. www.thehearththeater.com
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