Mo Lai Yan-chi, born in Hong Kong on 18 October 1986, is a theatre and film writer, director, actress and drama educator. A graduate of Baptist University's television and film department, she took a master's in cultural studies at Lingnan University and another in theatre at the University of Leeds. On stage she was lead actress and chair of a local theatre company, appearing in more than twenty productions such as Ju Ge, Kitty and the Dead Head and Yin Zhi Jiao Yu, and creating works including Hong Kong Daughter, White Shadow and a series of one-woman shows; besides performing she wrote and taught drama, running forum theatre with students for many years and using theatre to address social issues. She studied people's theatre in Bangladesh and India in 2005 and trained at a San Francisco mime troupe in 2007, twice receiving support from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council's Seed programme and later further funding for her creations. Her 2010 short film 1+1, about a grandfather and grandson facing the clearance of Tsoi Yuen village, won the top prize and highest honour at the Fresh Wave festival and gold in the open category of the ifva awards; written, directed and performed by her, it was set against the anti-high-speed-rail struggle in Tsoi Yuen, and its feature-length extension N+N was selected for the Asian Film Festival and won prizes at more than ten international festivals. She has also directed shorts including Out of Focus (2016) and The Bench (2018) and acts in film and television. Her work centres on land, identity and marginalised communities, and she is artistic director of MoMo Production, making cross-media and community art projects and leading drama workshops; she was named a Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Person in 2012 and has received the Arts Development Council's Award for Young Artist (Film) and the Cheung Kwok-hing Outstanding Young Communicator Award.
Mo Lai uses one-woman shows and short films to write about Tsoi Yuen village and grassroots life, bringing a female and activist perspective to Hong Kong theatre and independent film. After 1+1 won awards she extended it into N+N, showing how low-budget work can reach international festivals and letting theatre and cinema nourish each other.
Achievements
- 2005 · Studied people's theatre in Bangladesh and India, and twice won support from the Arts Development Council's Seed programme.
- 2010 · Directed her first short film 1+1, which won the top prize and highest honour at Fresh Wave and gold in the ifva open category.
- 2012 · Named a Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Person.