The Golden Dragon
A Cantonese staging of Roland Schimmelpfennig’s Der Goldene Drache.
5 actors, 17 roles, 48 scenes - 1 magical journey around the world. In the cramped kitchen of the Chinese-Thai-Vietnamese Golden Dragon fast food restaurant, five Asian undocumented immigrants work tirelessly. Amidst the struggles, one young man faces unbearable pain from a cavity in his front tooth, which he cannot treat due to his illegal status. His companions decide to pull the tooth themselves, leading to a dramatic extraction that sees the tooth flying across the kitchen.
Above the restaurant, life's complexities unfold: an aging grandfather loses his vitality, his granddaughter grapples with an unexpected pregnancy, and a woman reevaluates her troubled marriage. Meanwhile, flight attendants share everyday adventures at 33,000 feet as they navigate their own personal crossroads. The narrative intertwines these personal dramas with a fable about ants exploiting others while crickets venture into the human realm on a snowy night, adding a layer of mythical intrigue to the harsh realities.
Production under New Writing Theatre Festival 2013.
Date: 6-8/9/2013
Venue: Studio Theatre, Cultural Centre
Playwright: Roland Schimmlepfennig (Germany)
Director: Chan Ping-chiu
photo: Cheung Chi-wai, Jason Ma