SNOWMELT

ALAN x Ivanhoe [2026]

Set Design by Ruby Law

SNOWMELT, set in the year 2126, imagines a future shaped by rising sea levels and the accelerated melting of the polar ice caps. Five ancient snow-mountain animal families are forced to confront a rapidly collapsing environment, navigating survival, adaptation, and coexistence as their habitats disappear.

The design materialises this environmental shift through a stark, monochromatic landscape. A sharp datum line cuts across the space at two metres, marking the projected rise in sea level in a hundred years’ time. The floor fractures into layered, uneven planes, echoing melting ice sheets and breaking glaciers. Above and below this line, the space oscillates between black and white, creating a surreal, almost glacial atmosphere. Multiple levels construct a vertical ecosystem, where each species occupies a distinct yet interconnected habitat, revealing the fragile balance within nature.

The five animal families, Snub-nose monkeys, Himalayan wolves, Himalayan griffon vultures, snow leopards, and mountain goats, inhabit different strata of the mountain. As their environments dissolve, they adapt through movement and interaction, their presence shaped by both instinct and transformation. The choreography, scenography, and moving image intertwine to explore the evolving relationship between species and their changing world.

At once poetic and urgent, SNOWMELT uses immersive design to visualise the long-term impact of climate change, inviting audiences to step into a future that feels both distant and uncomfortably close.

Artistic Director: Anita Lam [ALAN], Ivanhoe Lam | Set Designer: Ruby Law [RULA] | Lighting Designer: Yeung Tsz-Yan | Projection Designer: Oliver Shing | Image Designer: Kary Kwok | Music Composer: Khris Nung | Sound Designer: Candog Ha | Choreographer: Ivanhoe Lam, Wei Wei Lim | Dramaturg: Loui Yuen | Assistant Director: Chester Wong | Performance Headpieces Designer: Gary Card | Puppet Designer: Wai Bun Yip [Pantasy Puppet Theatre], Man Yui Wong, Wai Tong Bo | Performers: Hikaru Kawasaki, Janosch Horn, Yuval Finkelshtein, John Luk, Nga Man Yeung, Kwun Ting Lee, Chun Kit Ma, Yi Chao Zhong, Samson Lau, Cyrus Yip, Hiro Wong, Ryan Lee | Production Manager: Bo Bo Chan | Technical Director:  Frédéric Bussière, Doris Chen | Producer: Michael Lee

Photography Credit: Carmen So + RULA Design Studio