Retina Maneuver is a solo lecture-performance that theatre maker Ping-Hsiang Wang is currently developing. The performance originates from his unexplainable obsession with Alicia Keys’s pop song "Girl On Fire," Frustration over not remembering where he was when the song was released in 2012 drives him to delve into his digital archives during the show. On stage, he meticulously searches through his cloud storage, email history, social media accounts, playlists, and even explores Time Machine backups, all in a determined effort to find those forgotten memories.
Ultimately, Wang stumbles upon a photo accidentally uploaded to his Facebook page and, with the help of Tropicamide, a pupil-dilating medication administered three times during the performance, he is transported back to the day of the single's release. There, he finds himself in a military setting, passionately engaged in bayonet drills and shouting the command "kill."
As his eyesight continues to deteriorate and the song “Girl On Fire” transforms into a marching tune for soldiers heading into battle, he reflects on whether these fragile memories portrayed on stage will be annihilated by the fire of war.
Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
Supported by the residency program at PACT Zollverein (Essen), funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science of the State North Rhine-Westphalia
Coproduced by TATWERK | Performative Forschung
Dates
October 6th 2023 | 6 pm
Free admission
Please reserve your ticket at info@tatwerk-berlin.de
October 20th 2023
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KVS Box, Brussels (BE)
Further information here.
February 19th 2024
in the frame of the Expo Festival: A Showcase of Wahlberliner*innen
English Theatre, Berlin (DE)
Further information here.
March 8th 2024
Double Bill in the frame of Monty Take Over #2 by Mestizo Arts Platform
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December 6th 2024
Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond, Tuinzaal | Amsterdam
RIGHTABOUTNOW FESTIVAL 2024
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February 21st and 22nd 2025 | 8:30pm
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Further information here.
February 25th 2025 | 8:15pm
C.O. Nova, Antwerp (BE)
Further information here.