A hotel in Singapore is opened at the turn of the century, when the island is still a jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Each day, new faces appear and swiftly disappear – guests and staff alike.
Every ten years, we check in to meet the hotel’s residents: Indian mutineers, Cantonese nannies, Malay film stars, Japanese soldiers, transsexual sex workers, wedding guests, suspected terrorists, and more. They live out the pivotal moments in their personal lives, as empires die and new ones are born from their ashes.
Even though the chambermaids clean up after them, readying the room for the next guests, traces of the past persist, and time reveals its cyclical nature. Ghosts communicate with the living, doubles are separated by decades, and a single moment of decision haunts the generations that come after.
An immersive, multi-generational epic, HOTEL explores the notions of empire, nationhood, migration and identity against the backdrop of a shrinking world. Spanning a century and performed over close to five hours in nine languages, this groundbreaking theatrical event highlights the eclectic energies born from the collisions between the old and the new, East and West, tradition and modernity.
Cast:
Ghafir Akbar
Naoshi Amakawa
Munah Bagharib
Rebecca Ashley Dass
Brendon Fernandez
Andre Jewson
Sindhura Kalidas
Dwayne Lau
Lim Kay Siu
Moo Siew Keh
Pam Oei
Siti Khalijah Zainal
Coco Wang Ling
Yap Yi Kai
Playwrights: Alfian Sa'at, Marcia Vanderstraaten
Directors: Ivan Heng, Glen Goei
Set Designer: Wong Chee Wai
Lighting Designer: Alberta Wileo
Multimedia Designer: Brian Gothong Tan
Sound Designers: The Gunnery, Paul Searles
Costumer Designer: Theresa Chan
Hair Designer: Ashley Lim
Makeup Designer: Bobbie Ng
Producer: Koh Bee Bee
Head, Production: Melissa Teoh
Technical Manager: Peter Chi
Production Coordinators: Angela Ee, Shamirul Aizan
Stage Manager: Sunitha Nayar
Assistant Stage Managers: Goh Xin Yi, Mirra M Z
Stage Assistants: Irish Alcantara, Ali Mazrin, Dilys Ang, Dinah Nazirah
Prop Master: Joyce Gan
Head Mechanic: Jayant Daniel Singh
Lighting Operator: Faiz Zainuddin
Followspot Operators: Asim Zayaan, Muhd Ghazali
Sound Operators: Nur Indra bin Anuar, Usaid Abdul Rashid
Fly Operator: Aliff Osman
Staging Technician: Shafiq Jay
Surtitle & Multimedia Operator: Liana Haron
Floater: Roy Tee Lacno
Dressers: Fa'iqah Azman, Maya Husna Azman, Noor'ain Afiqah, Nur Fatin Nabilah, Benedict Teo
Makeup Artists: Zeus Chan, Charlyn Ho, Amber Zheng
Intimacy Director: Rayann Condy
Intimacy Assistant: Lihong Chew
Audio Describers: Ambre Lee, Grace Lee-Khoo, Roger Jenkins
Caption Operator: Angela Ee
(Source: Wild Rice programme)