We are delighted to share the video of the complete one hour solo performance of Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes. It is now up online on YouTube. So if you didn’t manage to get tickets for the live show – or if you did see the show on stage and would like a reprise – here it is for everyone to enjoy.
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The show run is now over but you can BUY BOUND FEET BLUES, THE BOOK – please click on the links below:
Watch the evolution of writer Yang-May Ooi as a performer in these three short videos which capture her performance of Bound Feet Blues in its three incarnations – from the very first scratch night performance in March 2014 to the full production in Nov/ Dec 2015.
This is the first ever performance of Bound Feet Blues in public. When Yang-May took to the floor, she was trying out an unfinished script without a director and just seeing where the experience would take her. In the audience was one of the producers of the South East Asian Arts Festival (SEA Arts Fest) who invited her to bring the completed piece to the Festival in Oct that year.
Yang-May captures the drama and tension of that first performance in the book version of Bound Feet Blues, available from Amazon.
The showcase performance was a one night performance at Tristan Bates Theatre, London that was sold out even before the show was widely publicised on the BBC and elsewhere. The showcase was directed by Jessica Higgs and produced by Eldarin Yeong with R&D funding from Arts Council, England. It was part of the SEA Arts Festival 2014. The performance was 4+ star reviewed and its success enabled Yang-May and her creative team to move forward with the three week full production the next year.
The full production ran for three weeks at the Tristan Bates Theatre. Of the 15 performances, 12 were largely sold out with people queuing for returns. The creative team now included Hua Tan who designed the beautiful set and evocative lighting, costumier Carol Alayne and production manager Crin Claxton. The production was supported by funding from Arts Council, England, THFC (The Housing Finance Corporation) and Maclay Murray Spens. It was part of the SEA Arts Festival 2015.
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The show run is now over but you can BUY BOUND FEET BLUES, THE BOOK – please click on the links below:
Yang-May’s publisher is offering a 50% discount to book groups who order 5 copies or more of Bound Feet Blues, the book. Find out more below…
Yang-May writes:
I’m thrilled that Matthew Smith of Urbane Publications is offering this hugely generous discount to book groups who want to read Bound Feet Blues. There are so many themes in the book that could offer up juicy discussions – around body image and fashion, family stories, what values and life lessons mothers pass down to daughters as well as footbinding and Chinese history.
To take advantage of the 50% discount, please email Matthew direct via matthew@urbanepublications.com
The Q&A sessions after the show threw up all kinds of terrific discussions so I love it that we can offer something similar to readers of the book via the Book Group Discussion Pack. You can download it via this link:
https://app.box.com/BFBbookclubpack
And if you would like to arrange a virtual Q&A with me for your book group, we can sort something out via Skype, Facetime or Google Hangouts. You can contact me direct via the form below:
The two final performances of Bound Feet Blues EVER are tonight Fri 11 December and tomorrow Sat 12 December. Writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi looks back on her amazing debut on the London stage over the last three weeks as she considers these last two nights when she will be performing Bound Feet Blues for the last time.
Yang-May writes:
Performing Bound Feet Blues has been challenging, terrifying and exhilirating all at the same time. As a first time performer with no formal drama training, taking to the stage five nights a week for three weeks has been a huge test of my stamina and everything I’ve worked for with director Jessica HIggs in terms of my dramatic abilities. To have pulled it off with 5 star feedback from audiences and terrific reviews in the press has been amazing for me!
** Bound Feet Blues is NOW ON at the Tristan Bates Theatre until Sat 12 December 2015. Don’t miss this “mesmerising” and “powerful” show – buy tickets below or via bit.ly/bfbtickets **
In every performance, when we get to the footbinding scene, it is electrifying in the theatre. From the stage, I can sense the utter stillness in the audience as if they are all holding their breath, totally riveted to every word and gesture. There are occasional gasps and winces as the process of the footbinding becomes more and more intense.
I’ve also appreciated the warmth of the audiences as they laugh during the lighter scenes of me as a child and with my family. Their generosity and engagement spur me on each night to give my best performance for them.
As a performer, each night has been special with each different audience and I will always cherish this unique experience of performing in my own show in the heart of London’s West End. As a writer, it has been immensely rewarding to see audiences respond to my words and the drama that I have created for the stage.
I am looking forward to these last two performances which will have a very special meaning for me as the show comes to an end. I will savour each moment even more!
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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 **
Theatre reviewer Magda Knight has this to say of Bound Feet Blues on the blog, Mooky Chick which is an online magazine for “all those alternative people who don’t want to constrict themselves with a label”:
“Bound Feet Blues is a warm, funny and groundbreaking exploration of women’s expectations, concerns and desires. With deft strokes, renowned storyteller Yang-May paints a nuanced picture of her coming-out (too-new hiking boots), explores Chinese-Malaysian culture (bare feet, bound feet) and considers the span of generations and mother-daughter-relationships. Her voice is a honed musical instrument, and her performance – a blend of voice and movement – feels like a generous gift.”
and…
“It’s heartening that such an entertaining, insightful performance exploring sexual orientation and East Asian culture could happen in the theatre heartland of London’s West End, a place where mainstream commercial shows more typically feature the stories of the white middle-class.”
** Bound Feet Blues is NOW ON at the Tristan Bates Theatre until Sat 12 December 2015. Don’t miss this “mesmerising” and “powerful” show – buy tickets below or via bit.ly/bfbtickets **
You can read the full review here
Following on from Jo Good’s amazement at writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi’s versatile toes during the BBC London interview the other day, we thought we’d share a performance photo from Bound Feet Blues featuring these star quality toes!
** Bound Feet Blues is NOW ON at the Tristan Bates Theatre until Sat 12 December 2015. Don’t miss this “mesmerising” and “powerful” show – buy tickets below or via bit.ly/bfbtickets **
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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 **
A climactic scene in Bound Feet Blues takes place on a 100 mile walk along the South Downs Way as writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi and her gang of hiking friends come across the majestic vista of the Seven Sisters. Here are some pictures taken from Pinterest to give you a glimpse of the beautiful and dramatic landscape featured in this solo show.
** Bound Feet Blues is NOW ON at the Tristan Bates Theatre until Sat 12 December 2015. Don’t miss this “mesmerising” and “powerful” show – buy tickets below or via bit.ly/bfbtickets **
The South Downs Way, 100 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne – via Pinterest https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/174092341816790690/
The Seven Sisters – vvia Pinterest https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/148548487684014521/
Seven hills rolling out over the white chalk cliffs – via Pinterest, https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/361132463843448476/
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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 **
Dulwich OnView, the online magazine celebrating all things Dulwich and South East London interviewed writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi about Bound Feet Blues and the shows relevance for modern women today. Yang-May also shares her stories about the role of fashion and shoes in her life.
** Bound Feet Blues is NOW ON at the Tristan Bates Theatre until Sat 12 December 2015. Don’t miss this “mesmerising” and “powerful” show – buy tickets below or via bit.ly/bfbtickets **
To read the full article, click on the image below…
Dulwich OnView magazine celebrates the people and culture of Dulwich and the surrounding areas of South East London.
The magazine came about when a group of us, who love the Dulwich area and Continue reading
Writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi and the creative team are at the theatre right now working on the final preparations for opening night tonight. There is the final dress rehearsal, the technical lighting run through and making sure the set is just right.
Then, finally, after almost of a year of preparation, Bound Feet Blues will open as a full production tonight at 7.30pm at Tristan Bates Theatre for a 3 week run. The house lights will go down and as a haunting fusion ballad of East and West plays, Yang-May will step onto the stage to perform the work she wrote almost two years ago….
Have you got your tickets yet?
Go to the bottom of this page for the link to the box office or go straight to buy tickets via bit.ly/bfbtickets
There’s still an outside chance that there will be tickets left for opening night tonight – but if not, the show runs for 3 weeks to 12 Dec. So there’s still time to get your tickets to catch this extra-ordinary solo show.
Watch the highlights from the showcase performance in Oct last year:
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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 **
There are 3 Q&A sessions taking place during the Bound Feet Blues three week run. The first one will take place after the show on Friday 27 November 2015. We are delighted to welcome back Beverley Glick to chair this first Q&A of the full production. Beverley was our Q&A host for the showcase in October last year and steered us through the evening with quiet warmth. This first Q&A is going to be engaging and discursive with her in the chair again. So please do come and join us on Friday 27 November to see the show and take part in the discussion afterwards with Beverley, writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi and director Jessica Higgs.
Beverley Glick has been a professional storyteller for 35 years – first as a music journalist and pop magazine editor and subsequently in a variety of roles on national newspapers. In recent years she trained as a presence-based coach and now help individuals and business owners dig for the personal stories that will change their lives and change the world. She is also a public speaking coach, co-host a live storytelling event (thestoryparty.co.uk) and the author of Dig for the Story in Your Soul – #StoryWisdom to help you author an authentic life (out now on Amazon).
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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 **
