presented by
Good Terms Productions Ltd. & k*hole karaoke
co-produced by
TATWERK | Performative Forschung (DE), Freies Werkstatt Theater Cologne (DE) and Kaaitheater (BE)
Why is a Taiwanese military reservist so fascinated by Alicia Keys’ chart-topping hit Girl on Fire – a gay anthem he has sung countless times in karaoke bars? As he launches into the song’s climax, he is struck by a disorienting realization: He can no longer place himself in the timeline of his own life when this transformative song was released on September 4, 2012.
A fanatical search through his digital archives unearths fragments of memory and confronts him with a past haunted by violence and destruction. In a live performance that assembles a visual monument entirely from memory, Wang wrestles with the fragility of memory – and the unsettling reality that everything he has preserved could go up in flames in an instant, consumed by forces beyond his control.
Artistic Creation and Performance: k*hole Karaoke, Ping-Hsiang Wang | Dramaturgy: Wan Shi | Lighting Design: Raquel Rosildete | Lighting Assistant: Sára Enyingi | Artistic Producer: Aurora Kellermann | Graphic Design: Meng-Jiin Hsieh | Stage Support and Consultation: Soojin Oh | Lighting Support and Consultation: Yi-Ju Chou | Development Stage Assistant Director: Kang-Hua Chang
Retina Maneuver is presented by Good Terms Productions Ltd. and k*hole karaoke, and co-produced by TATWERK | Performative Forschung (Germany), Freies Werkstatt Theater Cologne (Germany), and Kaaitheater (Belgium).
Supported by
TATWERK | Performative Forschung, Berlin
Freies Werkstatt Theater, Cologne
Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg (KVS,) Brussels
Kaaitheater, Brussels
Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
National Culture and Arts Foundation Taiwan
the residency program at PACT Zollverein (Essen), funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science of the State North Rhine-Westphalia
Mestizo Arts Platform/WIPCOOP
English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center
2022 Thinkers’ Partner Project (TP Project,) Thinkers’ Studio
Location:
TATWERK | Performative Forschung
Aufgang 1, 3. OG,
Hasenheide 9, 10967 Berlin, Germany
Dates: September 10 - 14, 2025
Language: The performance is in English, with English and German subtitles available
Duration: 55 mins without intermission
Media links:
Review & Press
Retina on Fire
Review by Wouter Hillaert
Published on pzazz (03/2025)
“If autofobio (autobiographical phobia) were a genre, Retina Maneuver would be its textbook example. Here, theater becomes a near-ritualistic medium for sweating out personal catharsis in front of a community—a warning to all. Like Mulan finding herself beyond her disguise, Wang does the same.
Ultimately, every reference in this solo is about becoming who you are, finding your true self, and standing your ground in a world that turns identity differences into business models or declarations of war. Retina Maneuver forces Wang to look himself in the mirror—and in doing so, it shifts our gaze as well.
I would almost call that the shortest definition of thrilling art. I sincerely hope more people in our theater scene get to witness this solo.”
An Intelligent Search for Clues
Review by Birgit Schmalmack
Published on hamburgtheater (06/2025)
“What’s remarkable is how elegantly this performance…is constructed. It draws the audience in through the intimate portrait of a likeable man, then slowly widens the frame to a story that might feel distant: the conflict between Taiwan and China.”
full review and translation
“Retina Maneuver” A Performance on the Struggle Between Duty and Nonviolence
Review by Alexey Markin
Published on DRAPO LAVE (06/2025)
“In the final scene, Wang, clutching a Hong Kong protest umbrella, stabs at invisible enemies to the soaring chorus of Girl on Fire—an overwhelming crescendo that brought five curtain calls.”
full review and translation
An Interview with Wang Ping-Hsiang
on representing violence in performance and karaoke in ‘Retina Manoeuvre’
Interview and article by Richard Chung
Published on Bakchormeeboy (12/2025)
“This shift, where cheesiness becomes unbearable, irony becomes sincerity, mirrors the show’s structure. Memory, too, changes tone when repeated. What the performance communicates is the looming threat of conflict. Wang is skeptical of nationalism and is horrified at imagining himself killing others. He dislikes documentary theatre but has made one. He mocks pop melodrama but deploys it masterfully. He rejects lecturing but performs in a format called a lecture.
These are contradictions that fuel the work, and force the audience into rethinking that which seems innocuous.”
full article
