Bound Feet Blues is part of the South East Asian (SEA) Arts Festival 2015!

The SEA Arts Fest or South East Asian Arts Festival has been a key supporter of Bound Feet Blues from the very beginning. One of the festival’s producers Annie Kwan saw writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi’s scratch night performance of the draft work in March 2014 at Conway Hall and invited Yang-May to bring it to the festival later that year.

In October 2014, Yang-May showcased the completed version Bound Feet Blues for one night only as part of the SEA Arts Fest 2014 to a sold out audience and garnered 4+ star reviews.

This year SEA Arts Fest 2015 is championing Bound Feet Blues again, scheduling the full production as part of the festival.  We are grateful to festival director Hi Ching and his team for their ongoing support and enthusiasm for the show.

SEA Arts Fest 2015

SEA ArtsFest is the first Southeast Asian arts festival in the UK, championing and developing the work of the artists of Southeast Asia and those inspired by Southeast Asia. SEA ArtsFest brings together artists, practitioners, makers and thinkers to increase awareness of SEA Arts and its audience base, and is supported by Arts Council England.

The festival features an exciting range of work including film, theatre, music, traditional and heritage arts, outdoor performances, participatory workshops, digital media-based projects, roundtable discussions, and more, taking place across multiple locations in London and other parts of the UK. The inaugural festival took place between 1st October and 10th November 2013.

SEA ArtsFest 2015 will be taking place between 26th October and 13th December 2015.

 

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You can buy tickets for Bound Feet Blues via bit.ly/bfbtickets

DETAILS

Tristan Bates Theatre
1A Tower St, Covent Garden WC2H 9NP

Tue 24 Nov – Sat 12 Dec, Tue – Sat at 7.30pm.
Tickets £16 / £12 concessions.
Q&As post-show, 27 Nov & 4 Dec.

Meet Kristian Morgan, personal trainer to Bound Feet Blues writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi

Kristian Morgan is an unofficial member of the Bound Feet Blues team but he has the important role of working with writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi on her fitness and stamina for the challenging task of performing on stage for 5 nights a week over 3 weeks.

Kristian Morgan, personal trainer

Kristian is a freelance mobile personal trainer based in Dulwich, South London. He is a national ultra marathon 50k champion. He has completed over 50 marathons and ultra marathons (an Ultra is any distance greater than 26.2 miles). He is also an ironman triathlete but most of all he is a friendly approachable personal trainer.

He has been personal training in and around Dulwich since 2007 helping people achieve their goals, whether it’s been preparing for a marathon or just regular exercise. www.kristianmorgan.com Continue reading

Introducing the world of Bound Feet Blues: the Australian Outback

Bound Feet Blues is a solo theatre performance – but on an epic scale. Writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi takes the audience across continents from Asia to Europe and Australia. We’ll be sharing with you the landscapes of Bound Feet Blues here on this blog over the next few weeks. Today, the vast desert scenery of the Australian Outback.

In Bound Feet Blues, the open skies and vast desert of Australia gives Yang-May’s younger self a freedom she never had in the narrower landscapes of London and Oxford…

Australian Outback – Photo from flickr.com, thanks to Mark Wassell – https://www.flickr.com/photos/61520356@N07/ (CCL0

Uluru – once known as Ayers Rock . From flickr.com, thanks to Rita Willaert – https://www.flickr.com/photos/rietje/ (CCL)

A pivotal moment in Bound Feet Blues occurs on the precipice at Kings Canyon, Australia – photo from flickr.com thanks to Los viajes del Cangrejo – https://www.flickr.com/photos/viajescangrejo/ (CCL)

 

Continue reading

Meet Crin Claxton, production manager for Bound Feet Blues

Crin Claxton will be running the show for each performance, taking care of all the technical and behind the scenes details as the production manager to make sure each night goes off without a hitch.

Crin Claxton, Production Manager

Crin Claxton is a highly experienced lighting, sound and AV technician, and lighting designer. She worked as venue technician (chief) and touring technician (LX, sound, stage) for multiple companies and has been production manager and Continue reading

Yang-May Ooi, writer and performer of Bound Feet Blues says: More East Asian stories needed in UK mainstream media

Yang-May Ooi, writer/ performer of Bound Feet Blues talks about the lack of East Asian stories in UK mainstream media and what could be done to redress the balance.

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You can buy tickets for Bound Feet Blues THE SHOW via bit.ly/bfbtickets

DETAILS

Tristan Bates Theatre
1A Tower St, Covent Garden WC2H 9NP

Tue 24 Nov – Sat 12 Dec, Tue – Sat at 7.30pm.
Tickets £16 / £12 concessions.
Q&As post-show, 27 Nov & 4 Dec.

Meet Hua Tan, set and lighting designer for Bound Feet Blues

Hua Tan travels between Shanghai and London, working on diverse productions from Chinese language dramas and operas to international collaborations like the National Theatre’s Chinese language production of War Horse. She has created an amazing set for Bound Feet Blues as well as complementing Yang-May’s performance with a nuanced and atmospheric lighting design.

HUA TAN – Theatre Designer

Hua TanHua Tan is an established creative lighting designer and scenographer based in London who works for theatre productions in the UK and China. Hua completed an MA in lighting design from The Central Academy of Drama in China, and an MA distinction in Scenography from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. In her varied, successful career Hua has lit and designed for opera, drama, dance, and traditional Chinese operas. The highlights of her career to date include ‘Under The Hawthorn Tree’ (National Theatre of China), ‘Queen of coquetry’ (Shanghai Drama Art Centre) and ‘Open Country’ (Beijing Dance Academy). Her work has attracted awards and prizes including the ‘best lighting design’ at China Lotus Dance Festival, Shanghai Stage Art Society, Henan Theatre Festival, the ‘best set and Continue reading

Introducing Tristan Bates Theatre where Bound Feet Blues will be playing for 3 weeks

For a solo show like Bound Feet Blues where Yang-May is the sole performer and focus, holding the stage for an hour, Tristan Bate Theatre is the ideal venue. The theatre space is intimate, seating 60 people, and yet can seem vast as is appropriate for the epic quality of the story.

Tristan Bates Theatre

TBT_logoOpened in 1994, the Tristan Bates Theatre is dedicated to the memory of Tristan Bates, son of Actors Centre patron Sir Alan Bates, an aspiring actor who died at the age of 19. An intimate studio theatre, the TBT has an acclaimed history of showcasing and supporting the best new work in the heart of Covent Garden. Over the past two decades the theatre has Continue reading

Meet Eldarin Yeong, producer of Bound Feet Blues

Eldarin Yeong produced the showcase of Bound Feet Blues in Oct last year and is now working on the full production of the show for its 3 week run in Nov/ Dec this year. She brings her calm, efficient energy to the administrative, logistical and business side of the production, pulling it all together to make sure everything goes smoothly.

ELDARIN YEONG – Producer

Eldarin Yeong - Producer, Bound Feet BluesEldarin is a theatre producer and director, and the columnist on Theatre and Arts for UK Chinese Times newspaper. Her producing credits include: The Rites of Spring/ Romeo and Juliet (Concert Theatre National Tour),  Normal Love (Lilian Bailey, Sadler’s Wells),  Thor of the Common Man The Cockpit London), Aquatic The Cockpit London), film Atalantas (British Film Institute),The Monster in the Hall National Theatre of Scotland & Shanghai Grand Theatre) and Continue reading

Yang-May Ooi will be at Papergang’s Echo Event at Bush Theatre, 20 Oct 2015 for a night of East Asian stories

Yang-May Ooi will be taking part in an evening of East Asian story-exchanges with other established and upcoming East Asian artists at the Bush Theatre on 20 Oct 2015. The event is hosted by Papergang Theatre, a platform for British East Asian artist.

Papergang Echo event at Bush Theatre 20Oct15 screenshot

Here is what Papergang has to say about the evening:

“Through a mix of performance, poetry and music, established and up-and-coming artists are keen to share their tales, to awaken us, to connect us and to inspire…

Listen as our guests divulge personal anecdotes born from the different cultures that have shaped them – fantastical tales, personal truths, memories of far-flung shores or incidents that happened right here in our city.”

The event is already sold out!

Yang-May will be performing an extract from Bound Feet Blues. She says: “I’m also looking forward to seeing Continue reading

Do our shoes shape who we are? [video] – Yang-May Ooi, writer/ performer of Bound Feet Blues, thinks so

Yang-May Ooi, writer/ performer of Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes, talks about how shoes and bound feet in her extra-ordinary theatre piece are a metaphor for who we are – and who we long to be.

Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes is a solo story performance written and performed by Yang-May Ooi and directed by Jessica Higgs. A memoir of the same name by Yang-May Ooi is also being published.

ABOUT THE SHOW
In an epic journey from China via East Asia and Australia to England, British-Malaysian writer-performer Yang-May Ooi explores female empowerment and desirability through the oral histories of three generations of her family and the shoes in her life. Yang-May uses the ancient Chinese tradition of footbinding experienced by Continue reading