Banquet II
A banquet whose hosts cannot be here? How are we going to make it happen?
Thirteen migrant domestic workers in Shanghai welcome you through their stories and knowledge of cooking. Their invitation travels across 10,000 kilometres, arriving in the hands of performers — and, soon, in yours.
Through live performance, moving images, and playful encounters with dough, BANQUET II invites you to make wontons and share a meal. As we watch, fold, cook, eat, and talk, we explore how love and care travels without a written recipe. Together, we make room for the labour of feeding, the pleasure of being together, and the relationships that grow around a table.
You don’t need to have made wontons before. Whatever shape yours take, they belong at this banquet. Come with curious hands, your own memory, and ways of making food. Take your time, and let’s work up an appetite.
Performance Schedule
17:00 – Session 1
17:30 – Session 2
18:00 – Session 3
18:30–19:30 – Break
19:30 – Session 4
Each session accommodates a maximum of 10 participants and is expected to last no longer than one hour.
We kindly ask all participants to arrive 10 minutes before their scheduled session to queue for entry.
Biography:
Riccardo Bin Wu (he/him) is a PhD student in Performance Studies at Kingston University London. From a Marxist feminist lens, his research examines labour migration, precarity, and feminist ethics of care through socially engaged practices. Beyond academia, he is a playwright, dramaturg, and director, whose works focus on social equity and amplifying women’s voices. He is also the co-founder of SITE Contemporary Arts Centre, Guangzhou, where he has conducted site-specific projects with local communities, migrant workers, and practitioners to interrogate the entangled histories of labour migration and popular culture in China since the 1990s.
Shuangting Chen (she/her) is a theatre director, performer and producer whose work has been presented in China, the UK and France. Her practice explores how bodies carry cultural expectations and how performance creates encounters between people with different experiences. She is a PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Warwick, researching embodied identity, gender and the politics of representation in British and Chinese productions of Hamlet. She has taught theatre and performance at universities in China and the UK, and recently co-authored 演员台词教程, a textbook on voice and speech for actors published in mainland China.
Before you join us:
Flour and dough: This work involves handling wheat-based dough, and airborne flour cannot be completely avoided. We cannot ensure a gluten-free environment. If you have coeliac disease, a wheat allergy, or a respiratory condition affected by flour, please contact us in advance to discuss the activities and participation options available.
Food and dietary requirements: We plan to offer three filling options: pork, other meat without pork, and vegetarian. These will be handled and cooked separately, but preparation and participation take place in a shared environment, so we cannot guarantee the absence of cross-contact.
Clothing: Aprons, sleeve protectors, disposable gloves and face masks will be available for you to use.
Credits
Participating Women Workers: Fan Qie, An Jing, Lan Tian, Hong Dou, Cao Mei, Ka Fei, Yan Jing, Ping Guo, Hua Duo, Kai Xin, Wei Guang, Tang Guo
Concept and Dramaturgy: Riccardo Wu
Direction: Riccardo Wu & Shuangting Chen
Performers: Zora Pu, Keeh Hu, Mingxi Hu, Xueting Luo, Chendi Wu, Zacky Zhao, Riccardo Wu
Production: Huihui Yang
Digital Design and Technical Support: Mingxi Hu & Yiran Wei
Photography: Junxing Mai
Special Thanks: Caoimhe Mader McGuinness & Maria Chatzichristodoulou
Supported by GWP Space & @feastfestlondon