Bound Feet Blues – The Book!

October 28, 2014October 27, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

I’ve made a start on the book version of Bound Feet Blues and I’m pleased to say I have the first 5,153 words.

The script of Bound Feet Blues is only 25 pages and runs to a one hour show. That meant that I had to edit down the stories and simplify it all in order to create a story that works as an oral story and a theatre piece. The book will tell “The Stories Behind The Story”, expanding on and deepening the stories that are in the show.

The book will be framed by the scratch night performance that I tried out at Conway Hall in March this year. This was my first attempt at presenting the piece to a live audience and was made up of 45 minutes of a rough draft of the incomplete material. The book will follow my journey as a writer and performer trying to develop the memoir that would eventually become Bound Feet Blues, the show, alongside the journey of the actual story within the show.

Why this structure?

Well, I tried for many years to write the stories of my family, my heritage and my own personal life as a conventional memoir and that did not work. Bound Feet Blues works because it is a live dramatised story performance. So I want to honour the oral storytelling out of which the show evolved by writing a book that is an UNconventional memoir and that has the feel of Continue reading →

Yang-May Ooi on BBC London Live

October 20, 2014October 20, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

I went in to the BBC London Live studios on 16 Oct to chat with the delightful Jo Good about my novels The Flame Tree and Mindgame and also Bound Feet Blues.

In case you missed it, here is the interview again. It runs for about 20 mins. Click on the image below and an audio player will open up.

Or, you can click on this link – https://app.box.com/s/n5kxj3szaric1d03r8qi

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4+ Stars! Rave Reviews for Bound Feet Blues Showcase

October 18, 2014October 17, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

The reviews are out for the Bound Feet Blues showcase performance on Monday night – and the show has been given 4+ Stars. As you can imagine, I am delighted!

Bound feet blues

The Public Reviews, UK

The theatre review online magazine The Public Reviews gave Bound Feet Blues a 4.5 star rating (out of 5 stars) and described the show as “powerful” and “beautifully performed and directed”. Read the review by Nichola Daunton: “Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes – Tristan Bates Theatre” (14 Oct 2014).

“With a tiny three inch foot being the ideal size and the process of binding and bone breaking beginning at the age of four, Yang-May’s performance as the mother of a small child who is just beginning the process is very powerful. The fact that Yang-May performs bare foot throughout the piece is also an interesting choice and is used to good effect to highlight both her restriction and her freedom as she discovers the person she is meant to be.”

Credit: Eldarin Yeong

Everything Theatre, UK

This theatre review site which bills itself as the “honest and unpretentious guide to the London theatre scene”, gave Bound Feet Blues a 4 star review (out of 5). It described the show as “Engaging, eye-opening, funny and moving” and summed it up in one word: “Excellent” Read Hanna Gilbert’s review: Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes, Tristan Bates Theatre. (16 Oct 2014)

“Ooi gives a truly fantastic performance, taking on Continue reading →

Bound Feet Blues Rehearsal Photos – with writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi and director Jessica Higgs

October 16, 2014October 15, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

These photos were taken at a rehearsal the week before the Bound Feet Blues showcase performance. They show me in various scenes from the show, and discussing the script with director Jessica Higgs.

The photos were taken by the brilliant Claudia Rocha

The iconic pose showing my left hand as a bound foot “The Golden Lotus”

Discussing the script with director Jessica Higgs

Two more photos below – Continue reading →

Yang-May Ooi talking about Bound Feet Blues at SEA Arts Festival 2014 [video]

October 8, 2014October 8, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

Here’s a short video interview of me talking about the inspirations behind Bound Feet Blues and the challenges of bringing it to the stage.

It was filmed just after the Heritage Panel that I took part in, discussing the role of heritage in South East Asian Performance with Anna Nguyen of Trikhon Theatre and Elaine Foo of TrueHeart Theatre.

There’s also a short snippet of me performing a scene from the show for the audience at the Heritage Panel.

Enjoy!

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Bound Feet Blues Programme for the Showcase Performance at Tristan Bates Theatre on Mon 13 Oct at 8pm

October 8, 2014October 9, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

We have just finalised the programme for the upcoming showcase performance on Mon and I thought I’d share it with you. Click on the image below and the programme will open up in a reading pane.

The direct link to the programme is at https://app.box.com/s/uyt1pds75o3dapi6zuam

For those of you who are coming to the show – see you there!

For those who were too late to buy tickets – we hope to bring a full production to fruition in 2015 with a 2-3 week run so stay tuned…!

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Yang-May Ooi talking about thrillers and bound feet on Radio Verulam [audio]

October 7, 2014October 8, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

Here is my interview on Radio Verulam – click on the link below and a player will open up:

https://app.box.com/s/0n1njetp0eut0bv29dxg

Yang-May Ooi on Radio Verulam

It’s about 15 mins long. Enjoy!

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Sweet Vintage Photo of Butch and Femme Japanese-style

October 3, 2014October 10, 2015 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

Bound Feet Blues is as much about my own personal coming out story as it is about the story of great-grandmother with bound feet. Footbinding in the show is a metaphor for the binding up of who we really are, of our natural selves, in order to fit into an social construct of what a woman should be.

The story also explores how I used to be a tomboy and what that meant for me in terms of freedom vs constraint, power vs restriction, heartfelt love vs pretending to be someone I was not. For me, coming out was the ultimate act of unbinding and personal empowerment – signified by the freedom to wear whatever I choose, whether fully female or male attire or an androgynous combination of both….

This vintage photo shows two Japanese women, one in female clothing, the other in man’s clothes. I’ve not been able to Continue reading →

Chilling photo of a castrated Eunuch of Ancient China

September 29, 2014September 29, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

While women in Ancient China had to endure their feet being broken and bound in order to conform to the traditional Chinese cultural ideal of feminine beauty, some men endured castration in order to rise in the ranks of power.

This is a chilling photo of what castration meant for a man of that time

According to Green 9999 on Pinterest:

Eunuch-is a castrated man. In ancient China, castration was a traditional punishment or a means of gaining employment. During the Ming Dynasty there were 70,000 eunuchs, some by self-castration. Some of these individuals had Continue reading →

Fascinating historical photos of women with bound feet in my upcoming talk The Allure of Bound Feet

September 16, 2014September 16, 2014 / Yang-May Ooi / Leave a comment

I have been working on the slides for my talk The Allure of Bound Feet, which I will be giving as part of the SEA ArtsFest 2014 Panel on Heritage in Asian Diasporic Performance.

Here is one of my slides where I will be talking about the process of footbinding and the fact that it can take up to ten years to be fully completed. The photos show girls at different ages with bound feet to illustrate the passing of time.

At the moment I have about 17 slides in total. The other slides will include woodcuts of ancient Chinese erotica – you can’t really talk about footbinding without talking about the sex appeal of the tiny foot – and also cross-gender Continue reading →