Yoko, Neko, and Mom

When We Live Alone –
An Old Lady and a Cat, Sometimes with Mom.

The One-actor Puppetry from the Eyes of a Cat

Yoko, Neko, and Mom is an adaptation of Sano Yoko’s last essay collection Useless Day. From a cat’s perspective, Yoko, the author of the famous picture book The Cat That Lived a Million Times, tells the story of an old lady diagnosed with cancer and told she only had less than two years left. Unlike how we perceive death, the story celebrates the closing chapter of life with humor and frankness, pursuing the absolute freedom in a passive but not pessimistic attitude. Yoko, Neko, and Mom elaborates the life of the picture book writer with graffiti and ready-made collage. Cat puppets, the tabletop puppet as little Yoko, and the wonderful acting of the award-winning actress Wang Cyuan create a performance style mixing a sense of dailiness and picture-book fantasy, like a mirror reflecting the life of the elderly living alone in an aged society.

Premiere: Oct. 9, 2015, Wellspring Theater, Taipei

Director: Baboo, Chia-yin Cheng

Playwright: Meng-huan LIN (Dazi)

Co-playwright: Chih-wei Yeh

Yoko Sano「YAKUNI TATANAI HIBI」

Original Japanese edition published by Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.

© 2008 office-jirocho（Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc., Japan）