The World of Extreme Happiness

When Sunny is born in rural China, her parents leave her in a slop bucket to die because she's a girl. She survives, and at 14 leaves for the city, where she works a low-paying factory job and attends self-help classes to improve her chances at securing a coveted office position. When Sunny's attempts to pull herself out of poverty lead to dire consequences for a fellow worker, she is forced to question the system she's spent her life trying to master - and stand up against the powers that be.

Savage, tragic and desperately funny, The World of Extreme Happiness is a stirring examination of a country in the midst of rapid change, and individuals struggling to shape their own destinies.

This new edition is published to coincide with the US premiere of the play at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, which then transfers to the Manhattan Theater Club, NYC.


About the Author
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's play Lidless received the Yale Drama Series Award, the Scotsman Fringe First Award, the Keene Prize for Literature and the David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize. In 2011 she was awarded the Wasserstein Prize. Her plays have been produced by Trafalgar Studios 2 in the West End, Page 73 Productions in New York, InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia and the Contemporary American Theater Festival in West Virginia. Cowhig was born in Philadelphia, and was raised in Northern Virginia, Okinawa, Taipei and Beijing.