(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company launches its annual Fringe Festival with comedian, comic storyteller, and professional Jew Phoebe Potts and her acclaimed one-woman show, Too Fat For China, running November 5–8, 2026, in the Kutz Theatre at the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University.
Written, drawn, and performed by Potts, Too Fat For China follows her often hilarious, deeply personal, and sometimes heartbreaking journey to adopt a baby. After an adoption in the United States goes horribly wrong, Potts finds herself confronting the complicated realities of adoption at home and internationally. Along the way, she grapples with her own role as a middle-class white woman navigating the adoption industry, as her expectations, assumptions, morals, and values are challenged in unexpected ways.
Part comedy, part personal reckoning, and part search for connection, Too Fat For China is a tragicomic exploration of the lengths people will go to find more love, more life, and more family. With unflinching honesty and a sharp comedic sensibility, Potts examines the contradictions, absurdities, and emotional complexities of the adoption process, transforming a deeply personal experience into a theatrical story that is both funny and thought-provoking.
Potts brings her story to life with a distinctive visual element: a larger-than-life, hand-cranked scroll of her own comic strips, illustrating the running "newsreel" inside her head. The combination of live storytelling and original illustrations creates a singular theatrical experience, blending humor, visual art, and candid reflection.
The production has enjoyed sold-out performances at Gloucester Stage Company and throughout Greater Boston before traveling to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, where it received strong reviews during its month-long run. Potts later brought Too Fat For China to New York City's United Solo Festival, where the production won the Best Storytelling award in 2023.
The show's impact has been recognized by critics, including Megan Kempton of DC Theater Arts, who praised Potts' compelling stage presence and comedic talent:
"Potts' presence grips the viewer so firmly that it is impossible to look away... she is capital H Hilarious."
As the opening production of Centenary Stage Company's 2026/27 Fringe Festival, Too Fat For China sets the stage for a season of distinctive voices, adventurous storytelling, and unconventional theatrical experiences. The Fringe Festival celebrates artists who push creative boundaries and invite audiences to encounter stories that challenge expectations, provoke thought, and inspire conversation.
Performances take place Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 7:00pm; Friday, November 6, 2026 at 7:30pm; Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 7:30pm; and Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 2:00pm. All performances take place in the Kutz Theatre at the Lackland Performing Arts Center, located at 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown, NJ, on the campus of Centenary University.
TICKETS AND INFORMATION
Tickets range from $27.50 - $30.00 for adults with discounts available for students and children under 12. Tickets are available for purchase online. Thursday evening performances offer a special Buy One / Get One Rush Ticket Special available only in person at the Centenary Stage Company beginning at 5:00pm on the evening.
For tickets and additional information, visit www.centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company Box Office at (908) 979-0900. The Centenary Stage Company Box Office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown, NJ. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday, 1:00pm–5:00pm, and two hours prior to each performance.
The 2026/27 Season of Performing Arts at Centenary Stage Company is made possible through the generous support of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Sandra S. Kupperman Foundation, the John and Margaret Post Foundation, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and CSC corporate sponsors, including Heath Village, Visions Federal Credit Union, Fulton Bank, Explore Warren, and the Hackettstown Rotary Club, along with the many members and supporters of Centenary Stage Company.
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