Oh Yes Oh No

Louise Orwin

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781786828392
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sciences sociales
• Subtopic: Sociologie

Steady yourself to rethink desire, and then watch Louise Orwin smash it all to pieces.
Oh Yes Oh No invites you on a surreal joyride through femme sexuality and violence. Made with the candid input of survivors of sexual trauma, this is a show about having sexual fantasies that don't align with your politics.
Join Louise as she interrogates identity, consent and power play. How can you reclaim your voice and your body when they have been stripped from you? And how do you navigate a landscape of hyper-sexuality and increasing sex positivity when asking for what you want can be the hardest thing?

OH YES OH NO

Conceived, written and performed by Louise Orwin

Produced by Michael Norton

Dramaturgical Support – Gemma Paintin & Jo Bannon

Sound Design – Alicia Turner

Lighting Design – Alex Fernandes

Video Support – Joshua Pharo & Matt Brown

Set Design – Kat Heath

PR – SM Publicity

Oh Yes Oh No was made possible thanks to Arts Council England, Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Camden People’s Theatre, Live Art Development Agency and Live Art Bistro.

Oh Yes Oh No was selected for the British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2019, and will tour the UK and internationally through Autumn 2019 and into 2020.

With thanks to:

All the incredible humans I came across in interviews and workshops, whose words and thoughts are part of the fabric of this work

and

Rochelle Siviter, Alice Stride, Gemma Paintin, Jo Bannon, Annie Siddons, Michael Norton, Lou Platt, Jen Smethurst, Ira Brand, Brian, James and Anna at Camden People’s Theatre, Jon Opie at Jerwood Arts, Sian Baxter and Charlie Allen

and

Phoebe Patey-Ferguson, without whose support and love this publication wouldn’t have been possible.

Key to the Text

The text that follows is sometimes spoken, sometimes heard, sometimes seen on a projection screen and/or television on stage.

Where it is in bold it is seen on either the projection screen behind Louise or on the TV. At times this text will also be spoken by Louise.

In places audio that is heard, whether songs or audio from interviews conducted by Louise, has been transcribed.

The stage is dark, gently lit in pink light.

On stage we see LOUISE sat upstage left on a white stool on fake grass with twinkly lights on stands either side of her, reminiscent of lights you might see during a photoshoot. Downstage right we see the ‘Barbie Playpen’: a white plinth covered in fake grass, where Barbie sits on a white stool, with lights either side of her. Barbie’s world appears as a microcosm of LOUISE’s.

The Barbie Playpen has the extra additions of kitsch accoutrements, such as a miniature BBQ, and deck chairs and a table. A tiny video camera hovers in front of this space, which will eventually send live video images to the television upstage right on a plinth behind it.

LOUISE is almost entirely still, but watches the audience with slow nods and glances as they file in. She has an eerie, queenly calm to her.

Upstage right a slightly higher plinth stands with a domestic-looking TV on it. It is the kind of TV you might have seen in sitting rooms during your childhood. The following text flickers on the TV in the darkness:

HELLO

HELLO

HELLO

THIS SHOW CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE

AND

AND

AND

IT MIGHT BE QUITE COMPLICATED

WARNING

WARNING

WARNING

THERE’S A CHANCE YOU MIGHT LIKE IT

As the audience file in, LOUISE’S ASSISTANT prowls the audience and will eventually find an audience member to play the role of HANDS in the show. This recruitment process will be visible to the audience as they enter. HANDS will be briefed to follow LOUISE’s lead when he is called on stage, and will be given a bunch of flowers to keep back for later.

Once HANDS has been recruited, he is led on stage by the assistant as the house lights dim. He stands centre stage in a spotlight, as the assistant opens a white box containing white gloves, that appear like magician’s gloves or the kind of gloves worn at fancy museums with artefacts that are hundreds of years old. The audience watch as he puts the gloves on, and the following text appears on the projection screen behind him:

GOOD EVENING

WELCOME TO THIS FANTASY

SPACE

WELCOME TO THIS FANTASY

SPACE

ONE OF YOU WILL GET TO PLAY

WITH ME

THIS ONE PERSON WILL REPRESENT YOU ALL THIS ONE PERSON WILL BE YOU AND HE WILL BE YOUR HANDS AND WE WILL CALL HIM

‘HANDS’

HANDS sits.

Blackout.

In the darkness ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache’ by Roxy Music begins to play.

‘I bought you mail order
My plain wrapper baby

Your skin is like vinyl
The perfect companion…’

During this the lights fade up on LOUISE and Barbie, almost imperceptibly. During the crescendo of the drums, the lights around LOUISE and Barbie flicker.

Lights up on LOUISE.

The following text begins to scroll on the TV and LOUISE reads it.

She is speaking through a vocoder mic, which makes her voice sound monstrously high-pitched/girlish. She follows the stage directions to look at the audience throughout.

LOUISE: Before we start, let’s get this straight:

I am performing because I want to perform this

You are here because you want to be here

We will say this is consensual

I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do

You want to do this, don’t you?

[Looks at audience]

Let’s be clear

In this space there is only me and you

There is some history, sure. But we will talk as if we’re in the present.

You will disregard everything you learn about me.

About the past.

[Looks at audience]

There will be transactions
and there will be desire.

There will be re-framing and re-working.

(I will provide subtitles, don’t worry)

There will be question marks and exclamation marks

(and possibly some footnotes)

This is about you and me.

I’m going to perform for you.

I’m going to dance

And you will watch.

And I will do it because I want to do it.

Not because of who you are, or who you think I am.

Not because I am a woman. Not because of my past.

Not because I’m re-working trauma

(but who could say for sure?)

Let’s try and stay in the pr...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Before: Thoughts on the Process
• On Identity: Survivor vs Victim
• Aftermath: Endings and Voices
• Who
• Confessions of a Feminist Masochist
• Helplines & Resources
• Oh Yes Oh No