Let No One Sleep

Spark Theatre Group

9/5 │ Friday │ 19:45
10/5 │ Saturday │ 14:45
Small Auditorium, Macao Cultural Centre

Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, without interval
Performed in Cantonese, with surtitles in Chinese and English

Please switch off all sound and light-emitting devices. Unauthorised photography or recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Thank you for cooperating.

Creative and Production Team

Producers: Sam Choy and Ben Ieong
Director: Jason Mok
Playwright: Chen Chiao Jung
Associate Director: Sam Choy
Set Designer: Lam Ka Pik
Lighting Designer: Tou Kuok Hong
Sound Designer: Wan Si Lok
Costume Designer: Lai Leong Hou
Make-up Designer: Nicco Sun
Poster Designer: Endy Leong
Photographer for the Poster: Cathie Lam
Production Manager: Sam for MIIS Production
Stage Managers: San Fong and Tim Wong for MIIS Production
Deputy Stage Manager: Mira Lao for MIIS Production
Assistant Stage Manager: Anthea Wu for MIIS Production
Assistant Producers: Tam Lok Min and Ambrosio
Assistant to the Playwright: Alvin Pun
Sound Technician: Shao Ko Han

Acknowledgements: Vintage Market, Macao Federation of Trade Unions, Theatre Farmers, Jason Fong, Lora, Julia Lam, Stephanie Cheang, Yip Hei Hei, ‘Brilho da Vida’ Elderly Centre, Elderly Activity Centre of St. Anthony Parish, Hiu Kok Drama Association, Tang Kai San

Programme Notes

As society ages, long-term caregiving has become a growing concern. While care recipients suffer from physical ailments, they also need emotional and psychological support. Meanwhile, the relationship between caregivers and those they care for is often fraught with dependency, strain and conflict, but also compassion. Over time, building pressure may result in both parties becoming each other’s victims – and perpetrators. In extreme cases, such tragic dynamics make headlines as ‘caregiving horror stories’.

Let No One Sleep centres on a family’s elder sister, a character longing for redemption, to examine the complexities of long-term care in Chinese families. Her relationships with the five other characters reveal systemic shortcomings in both domestic and social spheres. The grandmother and younger sister offer warmth, but also entrap one another; the social worker and Maria, a foreign domestic caregiver, represent community resources that ultimately fall short of resolving the family crisis; and the man, representing violence, pushes the story to its darkest depths.

Scenes

1. Let No One Sleep
2. Toys
3. The Possibility of Love
4. Inheritance
5. Maria
6. The Villain
7. The Child

Characters and Cast

Elder Sister: Anna Ieong
Younger Sister: Cheong Kin I
Grandmother: Ao Ieong Ut San
Social Worker: Endy Leong
Maria: Ma Si Lam
Man: Sam Choy

Director’s Notes

How do we imagine life’s final chapters – from growing old to approaching death? How do we imagine a life suddenly confined to bed after illness or accident?

In recent years, stories of tragedies between caregivers and those they care for have become all too common. Having worked in elder theatre for many years, I hope this production will explore the various issues Macao faces as it moves towards an ageing society, highlighting urgent social challenges and raising broader public awareness.

In traditional Chinese families, the concept of ‘raising children to care for you in old age’ often imposes a moral burden on relatives to assume the role of caregivers. Yet many of these carers lack proper training and the emotional strength required for the task. What emerges is often a complex, strained relationship marked by dependency and resentment. There are no villains in such stories – those being cared for may be physically weak and emotionally fragile, while caregivers are left to bear both economic and psychological burdens. Over time, both sides suffer and, at times, hurt each other.

In this play, the grandmother, and the two sisters are each other’s only support, yet they become trapped in a closed cycle from which they cannot escape. The title, ‘Let No One Sleep’, suggests the emotional insomnia of this dynamic – a metaphor for the nightly torment endured by both sides. The challenge of this production lies in finding a theatrical language capable of depicting this surreal yet painfully real cycle, using theatre as a mirror to provoke reflection and nurture the possibility of change.

By Jason Mok

Playwright’s Notes

Theatre as Rehearsal and Redemption

This script was originally written a decade ago. It was only two or three years after my grandfather passed away that I could finally begin to accept he was gone. Though the play includes no character based on him, writing it helped me unpack the unspoken tensions between us – our own mixture of love and resentment, dependence and rebellion, distance and return.

After the play’s premiere in Taiwan, my grandmother – much like the grandmother in the story – was suddenly overwhelmed by years of chronic illness, and her health declined rapidly. Fictional lines from the script began to echo in real life as my mother and I cared for her. Writing had become a kind of ‘rehearsal’. The worse her condition became, the longer we spent caring for her, and heavier the emotional toll was. No matter how we tried to resist, reality kept converging with the play.

Now, a few years since her passing, this script has been adapted into Cantonese with the support of our full team. I have brought into it the perspectives I gained from living in Macao, while also revisiting the story with fresh eyes. I hope that the distortions, shocks, pain, sorrow, and violence in the play are not simply realistic representations of social problems. Rather, I hope they carry elements of the surreal and the symbolic – bringing us closer to a deeper, more layered truth. In an ageing society, where the act of saying goodbye becomes ever more prolonged, theatre serves as a rehearsal for loss. Through this pre-enactment of tragedy, creators – and hopefully audiences as well – may find catharsis. That, to me, is the true meaning of theatre.

By Chen Chiao Jung

Biographical Notes

Sam Choy, Producer, Associate Director and Actor (as ‘Man’)

A freelance theatre practitioner, Choy is active in acting, production, marketing and arts curation. He graduated from the School of Drama of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2010, majoring in Acting. In 2015, he received the Hong Kong Drama Award for Best Supporting Actor (Comedy/Farce) for Pillow: Talk. He currently serves as Creative and Executive Director of Spark Theatre Group and Creative Director and Marketing Planner of Metro-HoliK Studio, specialising in project coordination and arts marketing.

Ben Ieong, Producer

A member of the China Theatre Association, Ieong holds a bachelor’s degree in Acting from Taipei University of the Arts. He previously taught acting at the School of Theatre, Macao Conservatory, and is currently the production manager at Hiu Kok Drama Association.

Jason Mok, Director

Mok is artistic director of Spark Theatre Group and a graduate of the Department of Drama and Theatre at Taiwan University. With extensive experience in directing, acting, teaching, and technical production, he has led and participated in over 100 productions. He previously taught directing, acting, and technical theatre at the Macao Conservatory and now serves as an instructor for Hiu Kok Drama Association’s actor development programme ‘Born for Theatre’.

Chen Chiao Jung, Playwright

Chen is a playwright active both in Taiwan and Macao. Her Macao works often explore themes of local identity and cultural preservation, with notable plays including The Victory Shipyard, Sunset at the Shipyard, and The Flying Fisherwoman. She is the author of the script collection Flâneur on the Sea: two plays by Chen Chiao Jung. She also co-authored the award-winning graphic novel Sea You There and Us, which received the Silver Prize at the Japan International Manga Award and has since been published in multiple languages.

Anna Ieong, Actress (as ‘Elder Sister’)

An actress and creator who actively works across Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ieong is a bit wild and always eager to step out of her comfort zone. In 2014, she won the prize for Best Actress (Drama/Tragedy) at the 23^rd Hong Kong Drama Awards for The Miracle Worker. She has performed in over 80 stage and screen productions, including starring in the Macao feature film I Want to Be a Plastic Chair, which was selected for the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in 2023. In recent years, she has also expanded into playwriting and directing.

Cheong Kin I, Actress (as ‘Younger Sister’)

Cheong graduated from Taipei University of the Arts, majoring in Directing. Her 2014 production A Traffic Congestion was awarded the Best Theatre Performance at the Taipei Fringe Festival. Her other directing credits include Get Lost, I’m Done, The Dress Looks Nice on You, Practice, The Agony, Feminine Writing, The Special Number Is…, and The Reunification of the Two Koreas.

Ao Ieong Ut San, Actress (as ‘Grandmother’)

Ao Ieong is both a pastry chef and an actress. Her recent stage appearances include Tales of the Bridge, Legend, 3 Bravers, Dragonland, Aftertaste 2.0, The Walk-in Family, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Outside the Window.

Endy Leong, Actor (as ‘Social Worker’)

Leong is active across theatre, film, and multimedia. His recent stage appearances include Twelfth Night (2025); Identity, Stephen Chow, Impression of Iec Long, Outside the Window, Café 22ºN, Shear Madness (all in 2024); The Pillowman, Cyrano de Bergerac, Going Home Alone, The Best Wretches, The Trouble of Mortuary Staff, and _intoTheWonderLand_ (all in 2023).

Ma Si Lam, Actress (as ‘Maria’)

Ma has been passionate about acting since childhood. She received the Outstanding Actor Award at both the 15^th and 21^st Macao Inter-School Drama Competitions. After graduating from university, she completed acting foundation training at the Macao Conservatory’s School of Theatre, receiving the Elite Arts Award in 2022. Her stage credits include Sunset at the Shipyard, Nine Soundscapes, The Pillowman, _intoTheWonderLand_, Detective Agency EP.2, and Annals of the Theatre.

Lam Ka Pik, Set Designer

Lam is a freelance set and costume designer and actress. She holds a master’s degree in Stage Design from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and a diploma in Stage Design from Wimbledon College of Arts. Her design credits include Twelfth Night, The Third of March, Making Mummy, The Praises of Cat Warrior, Hide and Seek, East and West, The Tempest, Song from Far Away, A Number, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and Who We Are? – the Macao entry at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial.

Tou Kuok Hong, Lighting Designer

Tou graduated from Taipei University of the Arts with a major in lighting design. He is currently an active lighting designer in Macao, with works spanning theatre, dance, musicals, and opera. His design credits include The Blue Hour (Step Out), Death and the Maiden (Theatre Styles Theatre), and The Dress Looks Nice on You (Dream Theatre Association).

Wan Si Lok, Sound Designer

Wan holds a master’s degree in Sound Design and a bachelor’s in Classical Guitar from Shih Chien University, where he also taught as a lecturer in audio technology. He was resident creative sound design director of the Water Singers Vocal Ensemble and served as audio consultant for Rolling Puppet Alternative Theatre. His design credits include The Dress Looks Nice on You, Grandma’s Treasure Box, Mr. Donkey, Sylvia, Sing a Song of Mine, The Waters Will Tell, Stephen Chow, Backlight, Night, Mother, and EP22.

Lai Leong Hou, Costume Designer

Lai graduated from the Department of Fashion Design at Shih Chien University, focusing on material and colour studies. He was selected for exchange programmes during his studies, and his graduation work Rhapsody of Sunset was shortlisted for the Young Pin Design Award. His recent costume designs include Jacques and His Master (The Funny Old Tree Theatre Ensemble), Circus Wulin (Tai Kwun’s Circus Plays 2023), and The Monster (Big Mouse Kids Drama Group).

Spark Theatre Group

“Spark” represents brilliance and vision.

The group believes that to fully embrace life, one must first confront death. Only by facing mortality can life truly shine. Through theatre, the group seeks to guide audiences in reflecting on the themes of life, death and roots, exploring the infinite possibilities of existence.

The group is committed to showcasing theatrical cultures from various regions, promoting the development of the arts in Macao through quality productions and a wide range of activities, fostering social awareness and enriching the city’s cultural landscape.

Disclaimer
The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government provides liaison and technical support to the project only. Any views/opinions expressed by the project team are those of the project only and do not reflect the views of the Cultural Affairs Bureau.