OH YES OH NO

by Louise Orwin

 This is a show about trying to understand what you want, and wondering how the fuck to ask for it. It’s also about fucking. And wondering how the fuck to make a show about fucking.

Oh Yes Oh No is a one woman exploration into sexuality, identity and consent. Made exclusively with the candid input of female-identifying survivors of sexual abuse after hundreds of hours of in depth interviews and workshops, it interrogates with openness and frankness the notion of sex positivity, and the idea of asking for what you want.

Featuring intricate video design, Barbie and Ken, audience participation, and a heady mix of pop culture references, Oh Yes Oh No is playful, surreal and dark. It asks who gets to speak, who gets to have a voice, and ultimately aims to give a voice back to those who have had their voices and bodies taken from them. Original surround sound score designed by Alicia Jane Turner, puts the female research participants’ voices at the core of the show.

 How can you re-claim your voice and your body when these things have been stripped from you? And how do you navigate a landscape of hyper-sexuality and increasing sex positivity when the mere act of asking for what you want can be the hardest thing? Oh Yes Oh No is a new, bold look at a very current, but little understood area, especially in the wake of #MeToo. The show resonates with anyone who has ever worried whether their sexual fantasies align with their politics, or had questions about the sexual culture they have been brought up in. For those who have struggled to find their voice sexually it is empowering in tackling a subject which is rarely spoken about, especially in theatre. 

Steady yourself…. Oh Yes Oh No is taking questions from the floor, and it’s about to answer loud and clear.

“brave, taboo-breaking work”
— Lyn Gardner

“Startling and resonant show questioning female desire and its relation to rape culture”
— The Stage

“a piece to be talked about, once you’ve found the words”
— LondonTheatre1

“Bold, brave work, and all the better for being filled with the voices of real women who, by speaking out, are staking a claim for their own erotic agency”
— The Guardian

“Awe-inspiring for its optimism, for the sight it offers of someone trying to do something honest and uncomplicatedly brave in a broken system”
— Exeunt

Supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Arts Council England, Camden People’s Theatre, Live Art Development Agency and Live Art Bistro.