---
id: "post-35-en"
title: "Karaoke and Hong Kong in That Golden Era"
type: "review"
authors: ["Juzi"]
publicationDate: "Fri Aug 21 2026 20:31:10 GMT+0800 (Hong Kong Standard Time)"
publisher: "Taipei Fringe Festival"
originalUrl: "https://tpac.org.taipei/festival-fringe/2026/comment-writer/1589"
tags: []
relatedEvents: ["Karaoke"]
liveUrl: "https://www.rooftopproductions.hk/en/review/karaoke-tff-1589"
---

# Karaoke and Hong Kong in That Golden Era


**Post Details:**
- **Type:** review
- **Author(s):** Juzi
- **Published:** 21 Aug 2026
- **Publisher:** Taipei Fringe Festival
- **Original Source:** [Link](https://tpac.org.taipei/festival-fringe/2026/comment-writer/1589)
- **Related Events:** Karaoke


---

## Content
As a Gen Z who only began having coherent memories after the turn of the millennium, I might know a little about the heyday of Hong Kong music, but I never felt a deep connection to it—nor had I ever actively tried to understand its historical and political evolution. Yet, in this performance of Karaoke, the actor's physical presence and extraordinarily flexible vocal control completely immersed me and drew me into the story. I may not share this specific political history, but I have always felt that we [in Taiwan] share a mysterious, intimate emotional bond with Hong Kong. And in that moment, I shared a truly intimate emotional connection with Hong Kong once again.

The narrative takes the form of a stand-up comedy-style monodrama told from a first-person perspective. It chronicles the protagonist's personal autobiography—from her birth, through Hong Kong's handover from British colonial rule to China, all the way to the present day. Using a lifetime of memories tied to singing, the play weaves together the popular bar-style karaoke of the late 1980s and early 1990s with the post-millennial K-rooms (KTV private booths). Through these songs, it explores the bonds and conflicts within family relationships, as well as the identity issues forged by political shifts. Intriguingly, the stage is set with both a small CRT television and a large LCD screen—two viewing media from different eras that feel like compressing decades of Hong Kong's history into a single space. There is also a unique perspective: a live-broadcast camera shooting from the bottom up, reminiscent of the visualizers/document cameras teachers used to project textbooks in class. It projects photographs, documents, and even the actor’s face, offering a fascinating visual lens. By deftly switching between live action, physical photos, and pre-edited video footage, the production achieves a crisp, fluid dramatic rhythm. The actor is skillfully captivating without ever devolving into over-sentimentality; it is a remarkably complete and mature piece of work.

What I loved most was how it integrated history into the play. The screen broadcasts Prince Charles’s speech from the handover, paired with video of the protagonist as a child singing in the Hong Kong Children's Choir during the ceremony. The document camera projects photos from that time, complemented by a live voiceover that captures the memory of the rain pouring so hard they could barely keep their eyes open. It invites everyone to become a part of the moment, participating in this crucial turning point in history from multiple angles—filled with joy, anger, sorrow, and the complex emotions of an era in transition. Creating documentary theater in such an ingenious way requires no judgment of history, nor does it constrain what it should look like. It demands no standard answers—it simply lets feelings unfold naturally.

*Automatically translated from the original Chinese.*




*Originally published in:  Taipei Fringe Festival. We create a mirrored version of reviews and articles about our shows for archival purposes, so that we can retain a version if the original disappears. We always link to the original publisher and credit the author. However, if you are the owner of this material and you would like us to remove it, please get in touch.*