Dulwich OnView interviews Dulwich based author and story performer Yang-May Ooi.
Yang-May’s story performance Bound Feet Blues is a solo show that interweaves the story of her great-grandmother who had bound feet and stories from her own life. You can read more about Yang-May’s solo show here: dulwichonview.org.uk/bound-feet-blues-a-life-told-in-shoes.
Following the success of the showcase performance in Oct last year, Bound Feet Blues heads to the West End for a three week run of the full production from 24 Nov to 12 Dec - if you missed it last time, now’s your chance to catch this final limited run (bit.ly/bfbtickets for tickets).
Yang-May has also written a new book, Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes (by Urbane Publications) which is due out in November 2015.
Read on to find out more…
Congratulations YM on the success of Bound Feet Blues: A Life Told In Shoes. Can you explain in your own words what the show is about?
Bound Feet Blues interweaves the story of my great-grandmother in China who had bound feet and my own coming out story. It’s a solo story performance so I take to the stage to play all the characters, including my mum, my great-grandmother and myself as a tomboy aged 10 and as a young woman in my twenties. Shoes and bound feet are a metaphor for the cultural expectations around what it means to be a woman. I also portray a woman with bound feet in ancient China demonstrating on stage the brutal practice of footbinding on her daughter.
What is foot binding? Is there a cultural story behind it?
In ancient China, small feet were considered beautiful so women bound their feet to make them smaller and smaller. Women at that time did not have economic power or financial independence so were dependent on marriage - women with small feet were the ones who got the best husbands.
The practice lasted a thousand years - ie. from the time of William the Conqueror till around the 1950s. It involved breaking and cutting the feet of little girls over and over again to stop the feet growing. Imagine how this physical abuse would have effected a girl’s psyche - generations of women grew up submissive and docile and literally unable to stand on their own two feet.
The most beautiful foot was one that was 3 inches long. While researching the background to the show, I tried to buy a pair of baby shoes but the smallest size I could find was 4 inches!
What is the role of the modern woman today? How would you describe yourself?
Modern women in the West today can be financially independent. We can vote and make our own way in the world. Yet we are still judged by our looks. We are still expected to be quiet and gentle and to speak nicely. I like to think of myself as a confident, modern woman but I’m also probably more bound by convention than I would like to be! But this is not just an issue for women - I think men also can be restricted by social conventions. Boys are not allowed to cry. It’s not acceptable for men to show their tender, deep emotional side. Wouldn’t it be amazing, though, if we could live in a world where we could each express our best and fullest selves, beyond gender stereotypes and social expectations?
Did fashion and shoes play a huge part in defining who you are as an individual?
I was a tomboy as a child and loved running around barefoot or in my trainers. I used to think that one day, when I became an adult at eighteen I would miraculously want to wear high heel shoes like my mum. As a young woman, I did wear high heel shoes but I hated it! I liked looking feminine and beautiful but I hated being so unbalanced and not being able to stride about. These days, I wear Chelsea boots and biker boots and shoes that I can walk for miles in and I feel confident and in charge of my life. I think the clothes that we wear express who we are and when I was younger, what I wore felt like a disguise. Now, what I wear truly reflects who I am.
What is your personal style today and your favourite pair of shoes?
I suppose I have a slightly androgynous style. I live in jeans and well-fitting tops or blouses. My favourite jackets have tended to be from Zara or Jigsaw. I have a range of leather and suede jackets that I love. I leave my hair grey because I think it gives me a certain gravitas! I sometimes wear make-up and sometimes not. I have tons of ankle boots and brogues - my current favourite is a black biker style pair of boots from Ecco.
What do you love about performing as a story teller?
Performing is terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. It can all go terribly wrong if I forget my lines or mess up where on the stage I need to be or what I’m supposed to be doing. That’s part of the thrill of a live performance for both the performer and the audience, I suppose. But when it goes well, it is spine tingling! When the audience is utterly gripped and you can feel them holding their breath - in that moment, you can literally hear a pin drop. It is incredibly rewarding to know in that moment that your message is really landing with them.
You’ve written a book to support the performance, what was that like? What makes it unique? Was it an easy process?
The show is only an hour long - and just under 7,000 words. In a book, you have more time and space. So the book - also called Bound Feet Blues - is about 120,000 words. It collects the stories that I couldn’t fit into the show and also goes into a deeper reflection on the themes of female empowerment and desirability. You can read the book or see the show - I think of them as separate works of art and offer two different experiences. Or you can experience them both for the complete picture.
I wrote the book in 5 months while working four days a week in the City. It was exhausting - like running a marathon - but ultimately incredibly rewarding to have the opportunity to go into the stories and themes of the show in a more meditative, discursive way.
The structure of the book is inspired by the show - it is not told in a linear way but builds up the picture through layers upon layers of stories, fairy tales, discussion and history. The tone is conversational as if I’m next to you talking to you - in the way that I talk to the audience in the performance.
How do you feel about the success of Bound Feet Blues?
The success of the show was completely unexpected. I started the script in January last year at a workshop run by the Centre for Solo Performance and had a go performing it at a graduation scratch night in March. A producer of the South East Asian Arts Festival was in the audience and invited me to present it at the Festival in October. I have no formal drama training and at that time, I had no idea how to put on a theatrical production - but when someone offers you this kind of opportunity, you have to say Yes!
I was then able to build up a production team, especially director Jessica Higgs, to develop the showcase performance in October 2014 which garnered 4+ star reviews. Jessica trained me in the technical skills and discipline needed to transform a rough round the edges scratch night performance into a professional standard performance fit for a theatre in the heart of the West End.
This led us to bringing together the 3 week full production that will premiere in November/ December this year. The original team is now supported an internationally renowned creative team with funding from the Arts Council, The Housing Finance Corporation and Maclay Murray Spens.
Your next show will be running for 3 weeks in the West End, how do you practise for the show?
I am currently in rehearsals with director Jessica Higgs. As I have no formal drama training, it’s like I am taking a three year acting training degree in three months! We rehearse three times a week and in between I practice at home to fine tune the work we have done together. I’m also working with a personal trainer Kristian Morgan to improve my fitness and stamina so I can perform every night 5 times a week for three weeks. You’ll probably see him putting me through my paces sprinting around Dulwich Park once a week!
What’s next for Yang-May?
Bound Feet Blues is a personal project that I felt called to perform myself. I have no ambition to become a full time actor. My passion is writing so looking ahead, I would love to write more for the stage - but for others to perform.
But let’s get through the 3 week run of Bound Feet Blues first!
Yang-May Ooi is a bestselling novelist, award-winning TEDx speaker and acclaimed writer/performer who lives in Dulwich.
Bound Feet Blues - A Life Told in Shoes is on at the Tristan Bates Theatre 24 November - 12 December 2015. You can find out more and buy tickets via bit.ly/bfbtickets.
Her memoir of the same name is published by Urbane Publications in November to coincide with the show For more info and to buy direct from the publisher - see bit.ly/bfbbook.
