What if the most important exam of your life became a battle you had to physically fight?

On the day of the Gaokao — China’s high-stakes university entrance examination — a student enters the exam hall expecting to prove her future. Instead, she finds herself fighting against her own examiners, each representing a different subject and a different definition of success.

Through physical theatre, stage combat, multimedia projection and storytelling, The Final Exam: Gao Kao explores the pressure to achieve, the expectations placed on young people, and the struggle to discover your own voice in a world full of “correct answers”.

Inspired by the experiences of students navigating intense educational systems, this powerful new production asks:

When everything you have been taught tells you what to become, how do you decide who you really are?

A bold and emotional theatrical journey about ambition, identity and the courage to question.

The Final Exam: Gao Kao
Written & Directed by Xinyue (Sammi) Xing
Produced by Lulu Liu

Design
Emily Xu (Lighting)
Lios Qi (Sound)
Naomi (Ruizhi) Zhang (Set & Video)
Jieming (Benben) Lan (Costume)

Assistant Director
Qinyi Peng

Cast
Shanshan Wu
Shiwei Chen
Le (Bella) Cai
Yitong Fu
Yijia Gong
Karina Xuehan Jiang
Xinyue (Sammi) Xing

Produced by The Whisper Current Productions