Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"..."The World of Extreme Happiness" is hardly the first drama to probe the limits and self-contradictions of what is considered success within Asian (and Asian-American) cultural norms. I think I've seen three such plays this year, wherein protagonists struggle against the career expectations of others, especially their elders and parents, and try to define their own."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Without question there is a play to be written about “the new China,” and the altogether astounding changes that have jet-propelled a huge population into a radically transformed way of life over the course of just three decades. Unfortunately, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s grotesquely cartoonish “The World of Extreme Happiness” — now in a Goodman Theatre production directed with a similarly heavy hand by Eric Ting — is not that play."
Windy City Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Appealing as Sunny is, the almost-comic book style of the work distances the audience from the characters, although providing some amusement value. Then, Cowhig tacks on an utterly realistic closing scene in which ( spoiler alert ) Sunny dies. It's not the ending the audience expects and certainly not what the audience wants. A play which has been two-dimensional suddenly becomes far too deeply human, leaving the audience in stupefied shock and stylistic disconnect. Many viewers may hate it although it may be hard to forget, especially in light of current events."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's muckraking depiction of a rural Chinese migrant worker's harrowing experience as a Shenzhen "factory girl" smacks a bit of Upton Sinclair's Chicago-set classic The Jungle. Cowhig's protagonist, Sunny (winningly played by Chinglish's Jennifer Lim), is the third girl to be born to her parents, but the first to survive being thrown out like newborn trash for not being a boy under China's one-child policy. She eventually gets a brother, Pete (Ruy Iskandar), and ends up raising him when her mother dies in childbirth, while her father (Donald Li) shows more affection to his female racing pigeons than he can muster for his daughter."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...But, no question, what works here are the repeated shocks as the unfamiliar suddenly becomes too familiar. This creepy déjà vu fuels The World of Extreme Happiness through all its cascading extremities. Fully prosecuting Sunny through all her doomed and wishful living, Cowhig spares us no ugly revelations. The challenges and contradictions that erupt when ex-farmers clash with city slickers are hardly China’s alone; neither are the dead-end jobs and cultural condescension that fuel strikes and worse. This American-based plays may not change anything here or there–but, as Miller said with passive power, “attention must be paid.”"
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...Ultimately, I don’t understand why this play exists. Anybody who goes to Manhattan Theatre Club or the Goodman already follows the news enough to know China is a developing country with a lot of problems. The sort of fleeting pity which oppression voyeurism inspires does nothing to help people on the other side of the world. What are we supposed to do? Boycott every business with ties to China? Bomb them? Experience catharsis? I saw about five Asian people in the audience. Cowhig spoke as if it were a good thing that the subject matter is of no personal relevance to most people watching. Certainly this play will never be show in the Peoples’ Republic of China, the one place where it could make a difference. I do give Cowhig credit for calling out the negative consequences of believing in karma-driven reincarnation, but that idea needed more exploration, especially given how important it is to the play’s end. I felt that there were ideas for a story here, but they got lost amid lack of focus, a glacial pace, and the hackneyed device of an unexpected public speech (apparently broadcasts from the Great Hall of the People aren’t on a tape delay, either)."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...Each day we make our way in the world surrounded with products created by the kinds of people showcased in The World of Extreme Happiness. Putting a fictionalized version of one of those lives on stage at one of Chicago’s premiere venues is an important way to connect with the humanity behind capitalism. I loved this play as a sociological statement; I believe in the purpose of its mission."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...A play that challenges audiences with the question, “Is it possible to change one’s destiny?” Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s no-holds-barred drama, despite its charming dialogue that sometimes sounds like fortune cookie conjectures, is hard-hitting and filled with unexpected humor and fascinating characters. Scheduled to play New York’s City Center this winter, Chicago audiences can get a sneak preview of this unique parable depicting the inevitability of a person’s life written in stone. It’s a powerful, unflinching look at another culture during a different time, not too far from our own, that speaks to today’s Western World."
