Photos: Paula Reissig. Courtesy of Goethe-Institut New York

At precisely 8:07 PM I was led through a pair of ornate doors into a subdued lobby of the Hotel Savoy, a reincarnation of the original Goethe-Institute of New York. Standing completely alone in the lobby, the air thick with nostalgia, I could hear the sound of a clock ticking. Perhaps time is going backwards? Hotel Savoy, inspired by Joseph Roth’s novel, is a site specific performance piece conceptualized and produced by Dominic Huber in collaboration with director Bernhard Mikeska, along with a whole production crew.

My first encounter in the hotel was Isaac. He gently greeted me and told me to follow him. I did, and stepped inside the small elevator with him. I expected him to tell me something, but instead remained silent until we reached the fifth floor. He politely led me to Room 509 and told me to wait inside and make myself comfortable. As I was left alone, the room began to reveal itself to me: the dim table lamp, a humming blank glow of the tv, teal walls, stain marks on the carpet left by furniture, an old telephone. I can relate to this, the classic scene of an old hotel; only here, I wasn’t sure of my role. Naturally, in this moment of solitude, a web of thoughts began to materialize. Before I got to indulge in those thoughts, Chandler, the maid came in and we transitioned to the next scene: Room 605, which was the size of a walk-in closet. An Italian-speaking Giovanni waited patiently for his next guest (me) to play card games with him. Sitting cramped inside a bunk bed, accompanied by a non-english speaking host, without any indication of sequencing acts, I could feel my identity diminish.

I felt as if a different character had taken hold of me and I was merely picking up where s/he left off. In the kitchen, I found clues splattered all around the table, from the photographs on the walls, to crumpled sheets of paper about the history of the Goethe building, but the clues lacked a narrative thread. After a shot of vodka, I was greeted by another surprise – the mystic hairdresser. Clearly I was the star of the show, because he already had my portrait taped on his mirror. He then gave me a roundabout lineage background on the Goethe Institute and subsequently reminded me of my “true self” as being a Virgin Goddess. Ahoy! What an unexpected compliment. Following his instructions on a self-reflective chant, at this point I was ready to book a room in the hotel.  Obviously many questions were left unanswered, but the most perplexing one of all was: Why was the story so fragmented? The casts were strong in their presence, or rather, in their historical presence, but as I was shuffled from one door to the next, entering one room after another, I wanted this experience to tell me more.

Stepping outside of the Goethe, I was teletransported back to now, but left with more questions than answers. Was it someone’s dream that I had wandered in? What happened in that leaking room? What was the installation in the white ballroom? Why did Howard’s connection with the Hotel seem so ambiguous? I suppose if this was the plot of a dream, then seeking answers would be useless. At least one thing was definite – a striking old world charm still exists behind those normally closed doors of the Goethe building.

Hotel Savoy is presented by the Goethe-Institut New York and Performance Space 122. A production by Blendwerk. Directed by Dominic Huber.