Nomad Motel

Alix lives in a tiny motel room with her mother and two brothers, scrabbling to make weekly rent. Mason lives comfortably in a grand, empty house while his father runs jobs for the Hong Kong Triad. Until the day his father disappears and Mason has to figure out how to come up with grocery money and dodge Child Services and the INS. Mason and Alex develop an unlikely friendship, struggling to survive, and...
Alix lives in a tiny motel room with her mother and two brothers, scrabbling to make weekly rent. Mason lives comfortably in a grand, empty house while his father runs jobs for the Hong Kong Triad. Until the day his father disappears and Mason has to figure out how to come up with grocery money and dodge Child Services and the INS. Mason and Alex develop an unlikely friendship, struggling to survive, and trying to outrun the mistakes of their parents. Will they make it out or fall through the cracks? A play about Motel Kids and Parachute Kids raising themselves and living at the poverty line in a land of plenty.
  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

Nomad Motel

Recommended by

  • Nick Malakhow:
    16 Jul. 2021
    A complex and gorgeous examination of two infinitely compelling characters (everyone in the piece is well drawn, though I'm specifically referring to Mason and Alix). Carla so wonderfully brings together these two characters with both parallel and intersecting experiences of family, home, and identity, and clocks these subtle but propulsive seismic shifts in their relationship and their senses of themselves. The use of transitory spaces and the juxtaposition of expansive emptiness and cramped claustrophobia is so interesting from a design perspective. I hope to see many theaters and bodies interpret this piece in years to come!
  • Molly Ross:
    11 Dec. 2019
    A wonderfully unique story, Ching captures the truth of these teenager's struggles with the whole world seemingly against them. This play piqued my interest and brought me into a world I had never looked into. Profound moments throughout this play pulled me in even more and I craved to know more about the lives and struggles of parachute and motel kids, and a beautiful yet surprising ending stayed with me long after it was over.
  • National New Play Network:
    21 Jan. 2019
    NOMAD MOTEL by Carla Ching received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. The partnering NNPN Member Theaters are City Theatre Company (Pittsburg, PA), Horizon Theatre (Atlanta, GA), and Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, MO).

Character Information

  • Mason
    17,
    Asian American
    ,
    Male
    Chinese American in a black hoodie -- a lonely misunderstood genius
  • Alix
    17,
    White
    ,
    Woman OR Femme/NB
    a scrappy tomboy with a shock of blonde hair -- bigger than the town she's from
  • Oscar
    17,
    BIPOC
    ,
    Male
    a dude of color, aqua blue dredlocks, a modern day Basquiat, gregarious, a dreamer
  • James
    40s,
    Asian American
    ,
    Male
    strapping, cocky, leather jacket, perfectly coiffed hair, from Hong Kong
  • Fiona
    late 30s, early 40s,
    White
    ,
    woman
    a gorgeous and cultured blonde former Huntington Beach gal

Development History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Atlantic Theatre Company
    ,
    2017
  • Workshop
    ,
    O'Neill Playwrights Conference
    ,
    2015
  • Commission
    ,
    South Coast Rep/Time Warner CrossRoads Commission
    ,
    2013

Production History