Phoebe Potts wants a tiny little baby, and she’s going to stop at nothing to get one. A part of 1st Stage’s Logan Festival, Too Fat for China is a one-woman play about one woman’s quest to adopt a child. A hilarious and deeply heartfelt reflection on a particularly grueling time in Potts’ life, Too Fat for China is honest, brave, illuminating, and very entertaining.
Too Fat for China follows writer Phoebe Potts in her adoption journey. A Jewish Brooklynite, Potts begins by telling anecdotes about her middle-class American childhood and coming of age, and the subsequent weight gain that came with this coming of age. Throughout her exposition, Potts relies on a common theme: love. Whether that be how love was communicated to her as a child or the overwhelming love that resulted in her weight gain (and then resulted in the titular phenomenon of being “Too Fat for China,” more on this later), Potts makes it clear from the get-go that love will be the thematic heartbeat of the production.
After Potts falls in love and gets married, she faces unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy and similarly unsuccessful IVF treatments. In light of this, Potts decides to go down the adoption route. From here on out, Too Fat for China becomes something of a harrowing (yet hilarious) exposé of the structures of adoption. The first red flag in this whole affair is that of which the show is named, she is “too fat” to adopt a baby from China. Potts then faces adoption challenges in both the U.S. and Ethiopia, and we learn how truly inhumane the process of adopting a human can be.
Potts never lets herself off the hook in this affair, in a refreshing and illuminating way. Throughout her process of adopting a baby, no matter how hard it is on her, she is adamant that she is no victim. She reveals her inner thoughts that others may be too scared to share, and in the process, she humanizes herself beautifully. Potts accepts that what it is to be a woman in this world is an imperfect creature of bias, judgment, love, kindness, compassion, and complexity. She never shies away from the ugly parts of herself, and in doing so she creates a thing of beauty.
Throughout the show, Potts also treads the line of discussing racial inequality while acknowledging her privilege well. She never shies away from the nuances of interracial adoption and takes full responsibility for her complicity in the exploitative system. This lack of sugar-coating allows us as an audience to see the whole process for what it is, not a fictionalized fantasy of it.
These inner thoughts, the good the bad, and the ugly, are referred to by Potts as “the newsroom” and are represented by a series of illustrations that Potts reveals on a large scroll throughout the show. This addition of a visual aid adds excitement to this solo show and hilariously enhances Potts’ comedy.
Potts grabs the reigns of the show and drives it smoothly through the hour-long run with masterful pacing and comedic timing. Never once does Potts lose her grasp of the audience, and never once does the show feel like it is dragging or superfluous. The script is edited to a concise and perfect balance of anecdote, plot, and character, and Potts’ presence grips the viewer so firmly that it is impossible to look away. Beyond all this, she is capital H Hilarious.
Overall, Too Fat For China is an emotional and hilarious depiction of what it is to be a woman, a mother, a human, and above all else, what it is to experience and crave love.
Running Time: 60 minutes.
The Logan Festival of Solo Performance runs through July 28, 2024, at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, VA, with the remaining performances of each show as follows:
Fly Me to the Sun: Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 5:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 8:00pm
Too Fat for China: Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 8:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 2:00pm
GUAC: Thursday, July 25 at 7:30pm, Friday, July 26 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 2:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 5:00pm
General admission tickets are $20 per show and $10 per show for students with valid ID.
Individual tickets can be purchased online at www.1stStage.org or by calling the 1st Stage box office at 703-854-1856 or by emailing the box office at boxoffice@1ststage.org.
SEE ALSO:
1st Stage announces 2024/25 season (July 4, 2024 news story, includes overview of 2024 Logan Festival of Solo Performance)
