story

Yang-May Ooi on Resonance FM’s Out in South London talking about Bound Feet Blues with Rosie Wilby

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Writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi dropped into the Out in South London studio at Resonance FM earlier this week to talk to Rosie Wilby about Bound Feet Blues, the show and the book. Bound Feet Blues may be about bound feet but it is also Yang-May’s coming out story – and Yang-May chats to Rosie about the metaphor of binding and restriction in the show and how it relates to her emerging lesbian identity. They also talk about friendship and falling in love… of course!

To listen to the conversation with Yang-May, click on the image below:

resonance screenshot

OR click here to launch the audio player

You can also listen to the whole show via the Out in South London Listen Again page for 17 November 2015.

Out in South London

Out In South London is a weekly LGBT radio show on Resonance 104.4FM that goes out live every Tuesday at 6.30pm. It is devised and presented by comedian Rosie Wilby and jointly produced by Rosie Wilby and Sabine Schereck.

Out in South London started as a monthly show on South City Radio in Peckham in December 2008. Rosie was inspired by shows like Out This Week on Radio 5 Live in the 1990s, where she once worked as a trainee reporter. The show transferred to Resonance 104.4FM in late 2009.

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BUY TICKETS

**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.

**BUY ONLINE via: bit.ly/bfbtickets **

From storytelling to stage performance – Yang-May Ooi talks about her journey from writer to performer

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British-Malaysian writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi has been interviewed for Outstation.my, the online magazine for expat Malaysians, by writer/ journalist Ai-Leen Lim. In the interview, she talks about her journey from writer to performer in creating Bound Feet Blues, her solo stage show, opening in London’s West End on 24 November.

You can read the full article, – brilliantly titled “The Rebel Bearing Shoes”! – with background information about Yang-May by clicking on the image below…

outstation screenshot

Outstation.my is an online magazine for Malaysians living abroad. Ai-Leen Lim is a writer/ journalist from Malaysia, now living in London.

Continue reading →

The power of vulnerability to inspire others – Yang-May Ooi talks about performing Bound Feet Blues

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Yang-May Ooi talks about allowing herself to be vulnerable on stage in performing Bound Feet Blues and how vulnerability can inspire others to connect with their heart and  humanity.  You can read the full interview by writer/ journalist Anna Sayburn Lane on her blog, Bloomsbury Bluestocking.

Click on the image below to go to Anna’s blog to read the full article…

bloomsbury blue screenshot

Bloomsbury Bluestocking is a blog about writing and literature by Anna Sayburn Lane.  Anna is a novelist, short story writer and storyteller, inspired by the history and contemporary life of London. She is editing her first novel,Unlawful Things, and contemplating novel number two. She has published short stories in a number of magazines.

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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.

One week to the opening night of Bound Feet Blues! Have you got your ticket yet?

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Yang-May Ooi’s astonishing one woman show Bound Feet Blues will open in one week’s time on Tuesday 24 November 2015 at Tristan Bates Theatre. Have you got your ticket yet?

Not yet? Don’t miss this extra-ordinary tour de force solo performance. You can still buy tickets via bit.ly/bfbtickets

Bound Feet Blues takes us back to ancient China to the inner chamber of a mother with bound feet as she describes and demonstrates the brutal practice of footbinding on her daughter. We may judge this in our modern times as cruel but if we were women living in that time, would we do the same out of love for our little girl?

We also see Yang-May as a tomboy aged 10 and as Continue reading →

Introducing the world of Bound Feet Blues: Going to a ball at Oxford

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Bound Feet Blues takes the audience on a journey across Europe, Asia and Australia to tell the stories in writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi’s family and in her own life. We will be giving you a snapshot of these landscapes here on this blog over the next few weeks.

Today, Oxford.

Bound Feet Blues opens with a beautiful young woman walking along Oxford’s High Street  to a summer ball in stiletto shoes…

Here are some photos of the beautiful university city of Oxford and its gorgeous summer balls…

 

from flickr.com, thanks to Jessica Keating Photography – https://www.flickr.com/photos/jessandinca/ (CCL)

 

from flickr.com thanks to Queens Ball 2010 – https://www.flickr.com/photos/queens2010/ (CCL)

Bound Feet Blues: “young men in black tie and us girls in our beautiful ball dresses” – writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi, aged 20, with “Josh” on the night of the ball

Continue reading →

Yang-May Ooi on Radio 4 Midweek talking about Bound Feet Blues – audio

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Writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi was on Radio 4 Midweek earlier this week talking about Bound Feet Blues with Libby Purves and other guests Sally Bagnall, Diana Melly and Michael Portillo. Listen to the end to hear her asking Michael Portillo whether he would wear high heel shoes…!

Click on the image below to listen to the audio:

midweek screenshot

OR click here to listen

Comments from listeners:

” I loved your tea carrying story, your ‘would you wear high heels Michael?’ moment, and your use of the word ‘brutal’ to describe foot binding. It was brutal!”

“You were wonderful! particularly enjoyed your question to Portillo re- high heels.”

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BUY TICKETS to Bound Feet Blues

**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.

**BUY ONLINE via: bit.ly/bfbtickets **

In the studio

L-R: Polly Bagnall, Diana Melly, Yang-May Ooi, Michael Portillo Credit: BBC Midweek

Keep pushing your comfort zone creatively, Bound Feet Blues writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi advises storytellers [audio interview for The Story Party]

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In this audio interview with Beverley Glick for The Story Pary, writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi advises storytellers that the key to creative development is to keep pushing your comfort zone.

She talks about experimentation as the starting point for her remarkable theatre piece Bound Feet Blues, which is a mix of storytelling and performance. And she urges anyone who would like to have a go at storytelling to go for it and contact The Story Party, where she will be joining Beverley Glick next year to offer coaching to would-be storytellers.

You can read Beverley’s intro and listen to the audio interview by clicking on the image below:

storyparty screenshot

OR

You can listen to the full audio interview via the player below:

[audio http://www.thestoryparty.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Yang-May-interview-1.mp3]

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The Story Party is a regular storytelling soiree in central London co-founded by Beverley Glick and Mary Ann Mhina. As speakers, writers and advocates of the power of story, we set up The Story Party to create a safe space in which to share personal stories that can deepen our connection to each other – stories that are personal but also universal; stories that speak volumes about what it means to be human. Go to http://www.thestoryparty.co.uk/ to find out more.

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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 Jessica Higgs, director of Bound Feet Blues

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Jessica Higgs was the first of the creative team to come on board the production after writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi, directing the showcase performance of Bound Feet Blues in Oct 2014. She is at the helm again taking the show to the next level for the 3 week run of the full production in a few weeks time, opening on 24 November.

JESSICA HIGGS – Director

Jessica Higgs was the founder and Artistic Director of In Tandem TC (2000-08) whose worked focused on difference and integration of difference in society, creating platforms for culturally diverse and unheard voices. For the company she directed an acclaimed Pinter double bill ofLandscape and Mountain Language, translated and performed entirely in British Sign Language by Deaf and hearing actors, and the British Premier of Canadian, Alex Blumer’s Smudge, both at Ovalhouse. Other directing work includes: Julie McNamara’sPigtales and Pig’s Sister (Jackson’s Lane, Ovalhouse, Theatre Workshop Edinburgh and internationally); Will Eno’s Lady Grey (Soho Theatre); Wesker’s Four Portraits – of Mothers(Bridewell Theatre). Jessica is also a voice coach working regularly at Central School of Speech & Drama, British-American Continue reading →

Introducing the landscape of Bound Feet Blues: The Inner Chamber of a Bound Foot Mother

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In Bound Feet Blues, writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi takes us to a a diverse range of settings and times – from Oxford in England to the Australian Outback, and also the landscape of ancient China. We are giving you a glimpse into these different places here on this blog over the next few weeks.

In a central scene in Bound Feet Blues, Yang-May demonstrates on stage the gruelling process of footbinding on a little girl.  So, today, we introduce you to the inner chamber of a mother with bound feet where such a process would have most likely taken place.

The home was a woman’s domain in ancient China. Within that was the inner chamber, a private space for the women of the household only. There the women would sew and read and tell stories. And  also probably carry out the ritual of footbinding on the daughters of the family.

Women at home – thanks http://depts.washington.edu/

Woman, Qing Dynasty – thanks to http://www.elegantstory.com/, via Pinterest

Women with bound feet via Pinterest

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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 Carol Alayne, costume designer for Bound Feet Blues

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Savile Row tailor Carol Alayne has designed a sleek tunic for writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi, picking up the Chinese theme of the show while creating a timeless feminine shape to sit on top a pair of rugged jeans. The simplicity of the design belies the powerful impact of the costume, in keeping with the minimalist principles underlying the creative vision for Bound Feet Blues.

CAROL ALAYNE, costume designer

Carol Alayne is master tailor, haute couture specialist and mentor with over 30 years professional experience in Savile Row and at a number of leading fashion houses. Her commissions include individually crafted garments for fashion collections, technical wear for top level sports competitors, business and formal attire for prominent executives, traditional safari and field sport outfits, and special items for international artists and musicians. www.tailoringforwomen.com

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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.