SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS 2015: Taiwan Dreams Episode 1: Dream Hotel

PUBLISHED April 20th, 2015 04:18 pm | UPDATED June 9th, 2020 08:36 pm

Are historical events immutable truths or mercurial constructs? Toggle relentlessly between realism and fantasy in Dream Hotel, episode one of Taiwanese theatrical visionary Wei Ying-chuan’s Taiwan Dreams project, her boldest and grandest work to date.

In this dramatically kaleidoscopic and unsettling production, follow Tunick, our protagonist, through a decaying and labryinthine hotel, where he encounters a parade of grotesque spectacles as he searches for his loved ones and, ultimately, his personal roots and identity. It tells a story of diaspora through the mysterious disappearance of the Western Xia Dynasty in the 11th century.

Dream Hotel is Wei’s artistic response to Xixia Luguan or ‘Xixia Hotel’, a novel by visionary contemporary Taiwanese author Luo Yi-chun. This is a sweeping literary epic which, at its core, tells the story of the 1949 exodus of pro-Nationalist Chinese immigrants to Taiwan and their later generations’ ruminations on Taiwanese history.

‘Xixia Hotel’ has been hailed as Taiwan’s most important novel of recent times. In 2009, it was awarded the Golden Literary Award, one of the most prestigious prizes for new novels in Taiwan. In 2010, Luo was the first Taiwanese to win the first prize of the Dream Of The Red Chamber Award: The World’s Distinguished Novel In Chinese. The Award’s citation states: “Mixing personal confession and national narrative, magic realism and erotic fantasy, black humour and melancholy tonality, Mr. Luo depicts modern Chinese experience at its most complex and intriguing… [this is] a major breakthrough in contemporary Chinese fiction.”

During the creative process of Dream Hotel, Wei, a strong proponent of engaging literature with theatre, brought together top talents from diverse fields, including theatre, video, music and visual arts, to conduct meaningful conversations across their areas of expertise. Her end product is an unforgettable adventure of trauma and redemption that is both dazzling and emotionally compelling.

Taiwan Dreams Episode 1: Dream Hotel is happening from Thursday, 10 September to Saturday, 12 September at 8pm at 72-13.

To purchase tickets, please click [here](http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/sifa2015o).