Too Fat for China at The Rat NYC

A darkly funny, brutally honest, and riotous journey through the absurdities and ethical minefields of the international adoption industry, Too Fat for China follows Phoebe Potts, comic storyteller and professional Jew, as she tries, fails and eventually succeeds to adopt a baby. After a US adoption goes horribly wrong, Potts finds herself surprised, disgusted and ultimately resigned to the role she plays as a middle-class white lady in the business of adopting babies in the U.S. and internationally. Potts’ tragicomic journey is about looking for more love, more life and more family and will do anything to get it, including having her morals and values fold in on themselves. Christopher Griffith directs.

“It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a mortgage to adopt a baby,” shared Potts.

The runtime is 60 minutes with no intermission.

Performances for Too Fat for China are Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. on October 6, 13, 20, and 27; and November 3, 10, 17, and 24.

In addition to the show winning United Solo’s “Best Storytelling Show,” and BroadwayWorld’s “Best Solo Show (2025),” it was named an “Official Selection” at both the Modern Works (Boston) and Logan Solo (DC) Festivals in 2025. Theater companies have raved “a beautiful, funny, whip-smart telling…” (Alex Levy, Artistic Director at 1s Stage Theater, VA); “Your show (and you) are wonderful. Everyone who came raved about it.” (Catherine Carr Kelly, Managing Director at Central Square Theater in Cambridge Mass.); and “Five SOLD OUT performances! Would you come back for a BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND run?” (Summer Dawn Wallace, Producing Artistic Director at Urbanite Theater in Sarasota).